The Galaxy and God's Gift
by Reels
Summary: A story for Andromeda and Ted, chronicling their lives from their fourth year at Hogwarts, to Andromeda's lonely existence with her grandson. Revised.
1. Sunshine

I've decided to finally go back and fix all grammatical and spelling errors that have littered this story. Nothing new as far as content, just cleaned up a bit!

This is the first chapter in the 30 Drabbles in 30 Days challenge by Mystii that I accepted, using the pairing of Andromeda Black and Ted Tonks as my focus.

Sunshine

* * *

She could have killed Ted Tonks.

She squinted up into the sunshine, searching for something, someone, she wouldn't find.

He thought he was so damn clever.

"Andy! Here now!" Someone had shouted. As she looked to see who, blue dots swam into her vision. She squeezed her eyes closed just as she heard the quaffle fly past her ear and into the goal post.

"Another ten points for Hufflepuff! Tonks is on a roll!" Of course the announcer today was a Gryffindor. He couldn't be more pleased with his fellow House, currently beating the snot out of Slytherin.

"Damn it!" Andromeda screamed, only fellow players hearing. From his spot in the sunlight, she heard Ted Tonks roaring with laughter.

She'd had enough. She left her post, shouting "Time out! Time out!" over and over, unable to make the universal hand gesture for Madame Hooch. The referee blew her whistle, and the other players followed the keeper to the field.

Ted was one of the last to land, smiling like the idiot he was while his fellow players clapped him on the back for his tactical move that had so far earned them sixty points.

Andromeda threw her broom down as soon as he was on the ground, and marched over to him, Madame Hooch following behind.

"He's being unfair! He's directly in the sunlight! He knows I can't see him!" Andromeda pointed an accusing finger at the chaser, who held his hands up in defense.

"Hey, I'm just playing the game. It's not like I have control of where the sun is positioned." He tossed his floppy, sandy blonde hair, while his grey eyes danced, giving away his feigned innocence.

"You do, however, have control of where you go! You're using the sun to your advantage! It's practically cheating!" Andromeda glared at the boy, who rolled his eyes.

"Sore loser, aren't we, Black?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and giving her a smirk.

"Oh don't even, Tonks! I'm not the one throwing a tantrum every time my team loses!" She snapped, Ted's face coloring as the snub successfully offended him.

"A tantrum? What do you think I am, a toddler?"

"You're certainly acting like one, playing a stupid game of hide and seek during a Quidditch match!"

"Enough, you two!" Madame Hooch finally cut in, pushing them away from each other. "Tonks, I expect a fair game from you. Black, be a good sport, would you?" As Andromeda opened her mouth to object, Hooch gave her a look, and she closed it, looking away with a glare.

"Now we will resume. Maybe, Black, your team will pull it together and get the quaffle out of Hufflepuff's hands. That'd solve that problem." Hooch added, smirking slightly as the Slytherin's all turned red, eye brows narrowing.

The teams remounted their brooms, and launched into the sky.

xx

"Oh, don't take it so hard, Andromeda!" Ted called after the girl, who was stomping away from him. He had waited outside the Slytherin changing rooms for her, and upon seeing him, she had quickened her pace, determined to ignore the boy's existence.

"I _wouldn't_, if you had won that game fair and square!" She shouted.

"How was it not fair? You Slytherins use dirty tricks all the time in Quidditch, way worse than what I was doing! You're only mad because, for once, someone wised up and used something against you!"

"God, Ted!" She honestly didn't know how to reply to that, as every word of it was true. "Why are you even pursuing the subject? Just leave me alone, will you?" She stopped, whipping her head around to the boy, who stopped mid step, staring up at the girl. She looked perfectly lovely when she was furious.

"Well I was hoping in honor of the victory we could grab some butterbeers tomorrow when we go to Hogsmeade." He gave her a grin, as if the whole thing was perfectly understandable and a brilliant idea.

Andromeda's face flushed with embarrassment and rage while her stomach did back flips at the idea - and the fear that accompanied it.

She didn't answer, instead turning sharply back around and marching up towards Hogwarts, hands balled into fists.

Ted's grin faded to a small smile as he watched the sunshine fall on her retreating figure

* * *

-Reels


	2. Why in the World?

Why in the world would you do that?

* * *

"So, what?"

"What?"

"I thought you were over her."

"Who?"

Gideon Prewett raised his eyebrow at Ted, who had looked away from the girl's spot on the lake's shore, to his friend. They were both sitting under the shade of a tree, while other students, free of classes for the afternoon, lounged around the grounds, enjoying the spring weather. Andromeda had positioned herself on a boulder near the water's edge, a large text book in her lap that had remained closed.

"Oh, I dunno Ted, tall girl…Brown hair about to her waist, real curly. Her family indulges themselves in hating Muggles and Muggle-borns such as you…" Gideon tapped his chin as if in thought. "What's her name again? Last names a color, common one among pure-bloods…first name has something to do with some myth…"

"Oh, Gideon, drop it," Ted rolled his eyes at the Gryffindor, who laughed at his annoyance. "And I never said I was over her, exactly, I think I just gave up after six failed attempts."

"And one life threat from that charming Bellatrix. And didn't one of those Lestrange boys give you a beating?"

"Yeah, the bigger one, Rodolphus. The younger ones a total stick, I could take him," Ted shrugged. "But there's a difference between being over someone and giving up." With this, he resumed gazing at Andromeda, who was drumming her fingers on the hardcover of the text book, gazing out over the water.

Andromeda really was a good looking girl, one of the best in his year, Ted would say. Her jaw was strong, her lips thin, her nose straight with a slight up-turn at the end, and her eyes heavy-lidded and gentle with straight, thick eyebrows over them. She was tall and becoming curvy. Her hair was a dark shade of auburn, thick, and softly curled. It was pulled up now, bangs covering her forehead and locks framing her face.

"Ok, here we go." Ted stood up suddenly, alarming Gideon, who had dozed off.

"What are you doing?" Gideon asked after him, Ted already making his way to the water's edge.

"I'm going to ask her on a date!" Ted stated, sounding frustrated with Gideon for not keeping up with his train of thought.

"Why in the _world_ would you do _that_?" Gideon had stood up now, not sure if it was to try and stop his friend or not.

"Gideon," Ted turned back around, quickly approaching his friend. Ted placed his arms around Gideon's shoulders, and motioned toward Andromeda. "Look at her. The sun is setting, everything's all quiet, and for once, no Slytherins are around. She's perfectly alone. Now, my friend, is the perfect time to strike." With that, Ted clapped Gideon on the back, and began making his way toward Andromeda.

"You're an idiot!" Gideon called after him. "You must love rejection, Tonks!"

Ted waved his comment away, confidence having flooded him. But as he approached, and Andromeda turned her head, cocking an eyebrow at the boy, Ted couldn't help the sheepish smile he gave her, and suddenly felt very out of place.

"Ted," She acknowledged him, standing up from her rock, leaving her Potions textbook behind.

"Wotcher, Andromeda," Ted scratched the back of his head, glancing back at Gideon, who was watching them with vague interest. He managed to give his friend a thumbs up from his spot under the tree, and chuckled to himself. "Working on Potions then?" Ted asked, motioning to the book.

"Oh, well," Andromeda laughed slightly. "I had meant to. But I found myself day dreaming…" She trailed off, looking back over the water.

"Ah, well, happens. I haven't been able to get started on that last essay for Slughorn yet." Ted shrugged, leaving out the fact that Potions was his worst subject. "So don't feel too bad about it."

"I wasn't going to." Andromeda said with a smile. Then she seemed to remember something. "Oh, but you came over here. What is it you wanted?"

Ted cleared his throat, suddenly very self-conscious. His robes were a mess, his shirt un-tucked, tie undone, pants rolled up to below the knee. "Well, Andromeda, actually, I was wondering, you know, it's practically the end of the year, and I thought, maybe, before we went our separate ways for the summer, maybe you'd do me the honor of taking up my offer of just one date." He held up his pointer finger, and smiled again. "Just one, Andromeda, all I ask."

She bit down on her lip, and looked off, across the lake again.

Andromeda did like Ted.

She had met him their first year, having sat next to each other in Charms. Even then, Ted was very friendly to her, without even knowing her, even after she began ignoring him upon finding out he was a Muggle-born. Their second year, they maybe had a little more contact, due to both of them joining their respective House's Quidditch team, and even though both were very competitive, Ted still managed a smile for her at matches, or in the hall, or across the classroom. As third years, Ted was vital to her passing Care of Magical Creatures, it being her weakest subject, while he was the best in the class. Kettleburn assigned Ted as Andromeda's tutor when she fell dangerously behind, and the two grew closer still, a fact that worried Andromeda.

Now, as fourth years, Ted had begun repeatedly asking too much of Andromeda. Every time they were alone, he'd throw out the idea. "Maybe a date, Andromeda," and a smile following. She really did love his smile. His eyes would always light up every time he asked, too, as if he was amazed by his own courage. His kind, grey eyes that seemed a rarity in Andromeda's world.

She didn't want to reject him.

A thought crossed her mind. _Then don't_.

He was right. It was the end of the year. What was the worst that could happen?

Andromeda turned to Ted, who seemed anxious due to her prolonged silence. She looked over his appearance. His hair was getting long, his bangs beginning to fall into his eyes. His robes were messy as ever, in a way that almost made her want to begin fixing them. He really was a boy, though, with an eager look on his face as she stared at him.

"Just one, Andromeda, all I ask."

The girl smiled, placed a hand on her hip, and asked, "Well, what did you have in mind? And when? You can't just ask a girl out and not give her details. As you said, the year's practically over, so you'll need to come up with something quick."

Ted's heart soared.

* * *

-Reels


	3. Maniac

Maniac

* * *

Andromeda studied the tops laid out before her, two girls standing behind her with equal looks of concentration.

"I still say the green." Alanis Greengrass said with a nod, pointing to her preferred top. "It'll bring out the little flecks in your eyes, Andy."

The other girl, Moira Rosier, a cousin of Andromeda, shook her head, motioning to the blue. "She looks best in blue, though. It makes her look paler."

Andromeda tapped her foot in annoyance. The two had insisted upon dressing her up when she had told them about her date - but not with whom, mind. When asked, she said it was a boy from Ravenclaw, Viggo MacDougal, who Alanis and Moira believed to like her.

"It's about time, really." Moira had said with a knowing nod. "He wouldn't stop looking at you all during Transfiguration this year."

"What did your sisters have to say about it?" Alanis asked, taking note of Andromeda's suddenly worried expression. "They were angry?"

"No, I haven't told them about it yet. I mean, Viggo _is_ a pure-blood, there shouldn't be any objection…" Andromeda lied through her teeth, hoping her friends could keep their mouths shut so that this story never got back to him.

"Here, Andromeda, try on the red one again, it brings out the highlights in your hair," Moira tossed her the top from the messy pile of clothes.

"I'm rather tired of trying things on," She said, grinding her teeth. "I have to leave soon, so if we could _please_ decide on something."

"I _still_ say green." Alanis repeated, holding the shirt up to Andromeda. She snatched it out of her hands.

"Maybe you can try the skirt on again. There are lots of colors in the pattern, so a white shirt would work fine," Moira said, mostly to herself, as she picked through the clothing.

"We already _decided._" Alanis said in annoyance. "The skirt will make it seem like she's trying too hard!"

"What about a dress? Too fancy? I mean even a little simple one; I've got the perfect thing, actually! Andromeda, what size are you?"

"A dress is ridiculous. It's their first date, and they aren't even leaving the grounds. That's way over the top."

"How would you know, Alanis, you've never been on a date."

"Well neither has Andromeda, and she doesn't need to look like a fool on her first one!"

"How do you know she'll look like a fool? I hear Viggo likes legs, anyway, so we should give him what he wants!"

"Well now you're just making Andromeda sound like a…a harlot!"

"I am not!"

"'We should give him what he wants'? You sound like we're selling her to him!"

"You know that's not what I-"

"Will you two please leave?" Andromeda suddenly snapped, throwing the clothing down on the ground. "I _swear_, I will just pick something out for myself! It doesn't really _matter_ anyway! Just _get out_! I can handle this _myself_!"

Both girls stared at their friend in surprise, but took offense quickly.

"Merlin, Andy, we were just trying to help." Alanis said, standing up and making a point of stepping on the clothes that were on the floor before her.

"Really, Andromeda, no need to lose your head like that. If you didn't want us to help you, you shouldn't have let us in the first place." Moira linked arms with Alanis as they walked out, their minor quarrel forgotten.

"You can be a perfect maniac sometimes, Andy." Alanis called after her.

"Yes, a _perfect_ maniac." Moira echoed before the door to the dorm closed after her.

Andromeda rubbed her eyes, letting out a long sigh. They were probably her closest friends, but if they couldn't be infuriating sometimes…

She let her hands position themselves on her hips, blinking until her vision readjusted. She looked at the mess of clothing before her, her eyes falling on the articles Alanis had walked on. The blue, green, and red tops were out, along with the skirt. Andromeda rolled her eyes, not really annoyed, but mostly exasperated. It had taken them an hour to narrow it down to those three.

Returning her attention to the pile of tops, a mixture of her own, Alanis' and Moira's, she plunged her hand in, and pulled out a yellow blouse of Moira's. That one had been eliminated early on, the two having decided the color would make Andromeda looked washed out.

The color reminded her of Ted, being a Hufflepuff, along with the fact that it was his preferred color to wear, either out of House pride or some other reason she didn't know about. She smiled slightly, unbuttoned her uniform's top, and pulled the blouse on.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Andromeda decided it didn't make her look washed out at all. Those girls didn't know what they were talking about.

She glanced at the mess in the mirror's reflection. There was enough time to tidy up before leaving, and if she was a little late, it'd be fine.

And she certainly wasn't a maniac.

* * *

-Reels


	4. Blissful

Blissful

* * *

She squinted her eye closed, and stared into the eye piece.

"See the brightest star? With the dust ring around it?" Ted asked, leaning over her, as if to look into the telescope himself.

"The Andromeda Galaxy." The girl who shared its name looked up, and smiled at the boy with her.

He had led her to the Astronomy tower for their date to star gaze before Professor Sinistra's lesson at midnight.

Ted nodded, then pointed to it in the sky. "Look. It's just a smudge without the telescope."

They both stared at the galaxy for a long moment, standing side by side. Silence surrounded them, Andromeda feeling safe in their seclusion. Being alone like this with Ted, no audience to observe their behavior, whether it was a professor, their fellow students at a Quidditch game, or Ted's friend watching them from beneath a tree, Andromeda somehow felt closer to the boy than she ever had. She looked away from her namesake, glancing at Ted's profile.

He had a long, oval shaped face, with a straight nose that ended in a point. His eyebrows were curved, darker than his hair, and sat above warm grey eyes that always seemed to be laughing. His shaggy blonde hair fell into them, in a way that would have annoyed her but didn't seem to bother him. His mouth was curved up into a small smile.

"This was lovely, Ted." Andromeda began. "I've really enjoyed myself."

"I'm glad." Ted shrugged. "This wasn't my idea, so you if you're lying I won't be too offended." He grinned at the girl, who smiled back.

There was another pause.

"You know, Andromeda, I was blown away when you finally accepted my offer," Ted said.

"I think I was, too," Andromeda said, looking straight at Ted.

"But I'm glad you did."

"I'm glad I did, too."

There was a pause.

Andromeda began leaning in first, Ted unsure. Before their lips met, they both hesitated, until finally, Ted closed the gap.

The blissful feeling seized them both, and in that moment, they felt untouchable.

* * *

-Reels


	5. Love?

Love? What do I know about love?

* * *

The sisters had gathered in Bellatrix's room, wasting time until dinner started. The Lestranges were to be joining them, a first dinner in what would be many as Druella Black scouted out a pure-blood husband for her eldest daughter.

Narcissa lay on the floor, flipping absent mindedly through a magazine. "So, Rodolphus…" She began, glancing at Bellatrix. Her sister was sitting in front of her bureau, brushing her long, dark hair. In the mirror, Bellatrix caught Narcissa's eye.

"What about him?"

"He's a perfect _beast_," The youngest said, wrinkling her nose. "All muscles and hair." She shuddered at the thought.

"Some girls," Andromeda said from her spot on the love seat at the foot of the bed, stretched out and staring at the ceiling. "Find him to be very appealing."

"It doesn't matter how 'appealing' he is, anyway." Bellatrix dismissed the subject, turning in her seat to look at her sisters. "He's a pure-blood." She raised her eyebrow, daring either of them to challenge this.

"Oh, Bella." Narcissa groaned, sitting up to better look at her. "Don't say that like it's the only thing that matters!"

"Are you saying blood-purity _isn't_ important, Cissy?"

"No! It's just-"

"You'll understand, when you can look past your shallow standards," Bellatrix said icily, turning back to the mirror. Narcissa flopped back down on the ground, giving up.

"So, Bella, are you saying you'd consider marrying Rodolphus?" Andromeda asked her older sister, gazing across the room at her.

Bellatrix shrugged. "I'm not really partial to him, but then I'm not really partial to anyone." She picked at her nails for a few moments. "However, if it meant marrying one of them in order to carry on the pure-bloodline, I wouldn't object."

"But what about love?" Narcissa suddenly interjected, sitting back up. "Don't you want to fall in love, Bella?" She asked dreamily, looking off.

"Love?" Bellatrix scoffed. "What do I know about love? We were raised in the most loveless home in England. Our parents married without it, so can I."

Neither of her sisters had a response to this. They knew Bellatrix to never be interested in the idea of love, much less ever be in it, but the fact that she'd marry without it surprised, and somewhat unsettled her sisters.

"I don't think I could do that, Bella." Andromeda said after a pause.

"What, Andy?"

"Marry without love."

"Mother and father did it." Bellatrix repeated with a shrug. "And they're both reasonably happy."

Narcissa couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Mother and father happy? Father's never around unless it's the holiday. I doubt they ever see each other when we're away at school."

"I don't see the problem with that," Bella said, a bit of anger in her voice now. "If that's how they prefer to live, so be it. It's not like mother's always in tears and father's temper is horrible. The point is they gave birth to us, perfect pure-blood daughters, who will do the same once our time comes. It's all in upholding our pure-blood origins."

"Still, don't think I could do it." Andromeda said absently. "I believe in marrying for love."

"And what if you fell in love with a Muggle-born, Andy? Or worse, a _Muggle_?" Narcissa asked with a cruel little smirk.

Before Andromeda could answer (as if she had a response to that!) Bellatrix cut in. "That's impossible Narcissa. Andromeda wouldn't allow herself to do such a thing." Bella turned her large grey eyes to her sister. "Would you?"

Andromeda's face lost all trace of emotion as she stared back at her sister. "Of course I wouldn't."

She wondered how truthful she was being.

* * *

-Reels


	6. Fire

Fire

* * *

"Come on, Andromeda," Ted had finally cornered her, even after she had been so careful as to avoid him. His eyes pleaded with her, and for a moment, she just wanted to nod and follow him, where ever it might be. It annoyed her, this sudden weakness to Ted. She had hoped, over the summer, it would go away.

It didn't.

"Ted, I really don't think it's a very good idea…" She answered, looking away from him. The hurt was evident in his eyes.

"Please, Andromeda." Ted took one of her hands in both of his, and cocked his head, trying to get her to meet his stare. "Don't write me off."

"Ted, please, just try and understand-"

"We exchanged letters _all summer_," He interrupted. "I understand. But, Andromeda, I don't _care_." He ducked his head so that she'd have to look at him. "Pure-bloods, Muggle-borns, half-breeds, whatever. There isn't a difference to me."

"This isn't really about you," Andromeda said without venom. "It's my family. It's my friends. It matters to them." She looked away again, feeling ashamed.

Ted hesitated, standing up straight. "Does it matter to you?" He squared his jaw, his dancing eyes become flat. He was preparing himself for a 'yes.'

And maybe, she should have answered with a 'yes.' She had been born to. She had been raised to. Andromeda remembered something Bellatrix had said at the start of the summer. She, all three of them, Bella, herself, and Cissy were '_perfect_ _little pure-blood daughters_.' It was all in upholding her pure-blood origins.

Hate the Muggle, hate the Muggle-born. They're trash, the pebble in the Wizarding World's shoe.

Andromeda blinked, and looked back up at Ted. Fire ran through her veins as her mouth opened and she offered an answer. Her cheeks burned, her heart seemed to clench, and her finger tips tingled. Her vision blurred as panic set it. Panic at her answer. Panic at its truthfulness. Panic at what it would mean, in the end.

_Does it matter to me?_

"No, of course it doesn't."

Andromeda burned as the Muggle-born wrapped his arms around her.

* * *

-Reels


	7. Water

Water

* * *

He had decided at some point that he loved her.

It had only been a slight inkling when Ted was a fourth year. Maybe the idea of it had been nagging at him for a while. That night, on the Astronomy tower, alone with her, he thought, maybe that was the peak of his affections. But no, it wasn't anywhere near love. His infatuation with her was fully realized when they kissed, his school boy dreams coming true.

Kissing Andromeda Black was simply a miracle. It wasn't love slapping him in the face.

It was the letters that maybe motivated his crush, giving it the push it needed to progress past any juvenile level. That's when he really got to know Andromeda. What she hoped to become (a Healer), where she wanted to live (a quiet neighborhood in the English country side; she didn't like big cities), and how she wanted to spend her days (with the ones she loved, in a separate world all to themselves. Andromeda wasn't one to get involved in other's affairs.)

He grew to understand Andromeda in a way he hadn't before. Of course, he grew to understand what being involved with her would mean.

The Blacks hated people like him. People with any blood ties to Muggles. They would never accept him, Andromeda told him. She was very straight with him on the subject. They would hate him for who he was, and they would hate her for being with him. At times, as if she had written it absent mindedly, she'd tell him they wouldn't ever be anything more than friends, if that at all, and it was something he needed to accept.

He'd always pause in his reading then. Ted would wonder if she herself had already accepted that. He wondered if it was something she knew all along and was simply toying with him that night at the end of their fourth year. But then Andromeda would continue to write him back and he'd feel safe. Safe that he wasn't the only one emotionally invested in this. Safe that she actually cared for him.

Returning for his fifth year at Hogwarts, Ted was nervous when Andromeda didn't seek him out, when she'd quickly leave the area if he approached, when they'd catch eyes across a classroom, and she'd break the stare as soon as it met. He thought, _Well, that's it. She's made her final decision._

But still, something propelled him to track her down, to pin her against the wall, and confront her about all this.

"Does it matter to you?"

"No, of course it doesn't."

They were inseparable after that. Of course, it was a rarity to see them together out in the open. They weren't about to flaunt their relationship, not that Andromeda would allow it, anyway. Behind closed doors was where they enjoyed one another. Ted took her to obscure hiding places for dates.

It worked.

No one caught on. Granted, Ted was allowed to confide in his friends about their relationship, as long as they were sworn to secrecy (of course, Hufflepuffs were excellent at keeping their word.) But Andromeda's social circle stayed out of the loop. There was no threat to their relationship.

And one evening, as Andromeda lay in his arms, the two gazing outside a window in an abandoned classroom as the sun set, Ted seemed to lose control of his tongue and it slipped.

"Andromeda, I love you."

Ted Tonks was in deep water and he was only vaguely aware of it.

* * *

-Reels


	8. Closed

Closed

* * *

"You were with him again tonight, weren't you?"

Andromeda froze in the passage leading to the Slytherin common room, eyes falling immediately on the person who had spoken. He was sitting with his back to her on a couch; she could tell, however, who it was.

"What are you talking about, Rodolphus?"

The man, now seventeen, soon to be out of Hogwarts and into the Dark Lord's servitude, stood, turning toward Andromeda. Her breath caught and she was tempted to take a step back. He glowered at the girl, crossing his arms across his chest. This seemed to accentuate his burly build, as he probably intended it to.

"What, you think no one knows, Andromeda? That you're running around with that filthy _Mudblood_?" Rodolphus spit the word out.

Inwardly, Andromeda cringed. However, she tossed her hair, rolling her eyes at Rodolphus, in a show of irritation. "I think no one knows _what _exactly? If I don't even know what you're talking about, then how could anyone else?" She entered the common room, making for the girl's dorm. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed. It's rather late, you know, so you should probably do the same. Unless, of course, you want to sit around and accuse other people of, what was it, 'running around with filthy Mudbloods'?" She didn't want to say the word, but knew it would be suspicious of her not to.

Rodolphus cleared the distance between the two quickly, and grabbed a hold of her wrist, jerking her back around toward him. "If you think you're being clever, you aren't," He hissed, face inches from Andromeda's. She jerked her wrist out of his grip, glaring at him. "If not with him, then where were you?" His mouth curled into a smirk; he didn't expect her to be able to come up with anything.

"Honestly, Rodolphus, I didn't realize a girl had to explain herself when she just wanted some alone time." The lie rolled off her tongue easily and she began massaging her wrist, hoping for an air of nonchalance. "If you'd kindly _not_ throw me around like some kind of rag doll, that'd be appreciated."

"You're lying to me." Rodolphus snapped, grabbing her again. "You were with Tonks."

"Let go of me." She tried to release herself from his grip, but it only tightened. She cried out in pain. "_Let go of me_!" Andromeda screamed.

For a moment, everything seemed to hold its breath, till Slytherins, from their dorms, came down to the common room, taking in the scene. No one made a move to stop Rodolphus as he continued to hold onto Andromeda, who was gritting her teeth in pain. A few tears began to leak out, until finally, he let her go. She collapsed to the floor, cradling her wrists in her lap. She blinked away the last of her tears, looking at the damage; blood dotted where he had sank his nails into her skin, and the area was turning red. Vaguely, she wondered if the area would bruise.

Everyone was frozen in place, staring down at Andromeda. She looked up to see Bellatrix and Narcissa in front of the crowd of girls. Bellatrix looked on, her lips pursed slightly as if contemplating something, while Narcissa looked panicked, torn between running to her older sister and staying with everyone else. Andromeda didn't give her time to decide before picking herself up off the floor.

No one tried to stop her as she walked by them, head held high. Their eyes lingered on her wrists and they stepped back from her, clearing the way. Andromeda said nothing to her assaulter, nothing to her sisters, nothing to her friends.

What was there to say?

She entered her dorm, crawled into her bed without undressing, and closed the curtains around her bed. She closed herself off from her world, from everyone she cared about, everyone she thought cared about her. She lay in bed and cried, heart yearning for the boy who was probably falling asleep with a smile on his face, having enjoyed a pleasant evening with the girl he loved.

Andromeda closed herself off to everyone but Ted Tonks and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

-Reels


	9. Continually

Continually

* * *

After that night, others began approaching Andromeda. Rodolphus' confrontation with her proved to be a catalyst, motivating other people to question her.

All except her sisters. That's probably what disturbed her the most.

It wasn't as though Bellatrix and Narcissa distanced themselves from their sister. They simply wouldn't bring up the night, acting as though it never happened. Bellatrix was polite and cold, as she often was, and Narcissa was talkative, exchanging gossip with Andromeda. It unsettled her. She felt as though it was the calm before the storm.

It wasn't long before Moira and Alanis brought it up.

"You know." Alanis said one morning after Moira brought attention to the subject, which both relieved and disturbed Andromeda. She wanted what had happened to be addressed, but at the same time didn't. She didn't know who believed her lies or who saw through them. "I heard that Bellatrix had talked to Rodolphus that night, before everyone had gone to bed. I hear she asked him to do it."

"Where did you hear that from?" Moira asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know, around." Alanis waved the subject away. "But I think Bellatrix wanted Rodolphus to scare you a bit, Andromeda. I mean, the rumor that you had been with that Mudblood was floating around…" She shrugged. "Not that _I _believed it, of course."

The girls began reassuring their friend that they had trusted her the whole time, but Andromeda's mind lingered on Bellatrix. Bellatrix could easily handle a confrontation. But to have Rodolphus talk to her? What was the point?

She asked.

The two sisters were separated from the rest of their House as they sat together in a corner of the common room. As Andromeda began questioning her, Bellatrix frowned and took Andromeda's hands in hers.

"How could I accuse my sister of such a thing?" Bellatrix asked, shaking her head slightly, as if the idea was simply out of the question. "It was a silly rumor others wouldn't shut up about. I didn't want you to think I doubted you."

"But you did, as you went to Rodolphus," Andromeda withdrew her hands from Bellatrix, who sighed.

"It was wrong of me, I know." The woman looked away, gazing at the others. "I'm not proud of it, Andromeda. I just love you _so_ much. The rumor had to be cleared." She turned back to her sister, eyes seeming to plead. "If not for you, then our family. Something like that could ruin you."

Andromeda stared back at Bellatrix, not saying anything. She had no reply for her sister.

"But you know that, don't you?" For a moment, something like annoyance flickered across her face. Then she smiled in this serene way, an expression Andromeda had seen since she was a child. It was the way Bellatrix looked at someone when she knew something about them, something she could, and would, use against them. Whether it was a hidden candy stash or a wild rabbit caught to be a pet.

Or a Muggle-born that Andromeda loved.

It was a smile Bellatrix had continually used against Andromeda and Narcissa throughout their life. It was a smile they came to fear. But, now, as Bellatrix took Andromeda's hands in hers again, and squeezed, digging her fingernails into Andromeda's palms, it was a smile she grew to hate.

"And you'll be sure no nasty rumor such as that starts flying around again?" Bellatrix cocked her head to the side.

Andromeda smiled for her sister, ignoring the stinging pain. "Of course, Bella."

But she couldn't promise anything.

* * *

-Reels


	10. Stormier

Stormier

* * *

The war had started, but that all seemed so far away.

Their fifth year wrapping itself up, Andromeda and Ted significantly reduced their time together. Andromeda worried over Bellatrix. Ted worried over Andromeda. She didn't want another confrontation and he didn't want to risk her getting hurt again. It was a mutual agreement; Bellatrix, along with Rodolphus, would be gone once the year was over. They would be married and go on to declare their loyalty as Death Eaters. They would no longer pose a threat to them.

Summer proved to be the same as last, the two exchanging letters as often as possible. No one in Andromeda's family picked up on this, their minds other places.

Andromeda and Ted felt free those last years at Hogwarts. Any watchful eye was gone, the only one who could pose a threat smitten by one Lucius Malfoy, too wrapped up in her own romance to mind her sister's.

It was a time for the two to fall more in love with the other, their bond strengthening to a point that it seemed unbreakable. Andromeda was both terrified and thrilled by this; Ted was possibly everything she wanted and more, with only one flaw. And it wasn't as though he could help that.

He was sweet and kind. He made her laugh and could deal with her temper with his laidback attitude easily. They seemed to be polar opposites on some things, but they figured it only made things more interesting.

"It'd be boring," Ted had said once with a chuckle, while Andromeda appraised his disheveled appearance with disgust. "If we agreed on everything."

In the slightest way possible, they became more public. Ted might wait in the morning to walk Andromeda to her class, or if they shared one, they'd meet up to go there together. They could sometimes be seen together by the lake or just taking a walk. They never displayed affection during these times, simply talking with one another, about subjects that, if overheard, wouldn't lead to anything; a complaint about a Transfiguration assignment or exchanging notes for Potions. Around Quidditch games they'd place bets on who was playing or competitively argue in favor of their House.

They just seemed like two acquaintances.

They saved romance for when they were alone. Night became their time, either sneaking out after their roommates fell asleep or simply never coming back after supper. This sparked some suspicion, but Andromeda easily waved it off. She liked to be alone, something her friends knew. If she said she was just roaming the dungeons to clear her head, they believed her. And if not, dragging another boy's name into the mix was enough to silence any talk.

It was a rush for both of them, their relationship. Ted felt empowered at the idea of having to fight for his girl, while Andromeda blushed at the idea of forbidden love. Their relationship grew in maturity, and at one point, the idea that she was in this forever crossed Andromeda's mind. But she loved this, what she had with Ted. It was an idea she grew to like, blissfully ignoring that fact that if it came to be, she'd lose all she loved.

They were young, they were in love, and their worlds couldn't be the same without the other. They recognized this and held on to the other more tightly. Nothing would tear them apart, they were sure of it. And as they relaxed at Hogwarts, lounging around the castle, completely wrapped up in the other, all their troubles seemed to melt away.

It was a time of peace.

Looking back, the two seemed to take that time for granted. But, neither of them could predict the stormier days that lay ahead.

* * *

-Reels


	11. Truthfully

Truthfully

* * *

"Andromeda, please." Narcissa's large blue eyes pleaded with her older sister. "Look at me and truthfully tell me you aren't seeing Ted Tonks."

Confusion, maybe, was the first thing. She had left Hogwarts for good a month ago. Narcissa hadn't ever questioned her on the subject before. Why now? What would inspire it?

"What are you talking about, Cissy?" Andormeda knitted her brow. "Ted Tonks?"

"Don't treat me like an idiot, Andromeda!" Narcissa was suddenly shoving a piece of parchment in her face. "What, you thought you could hide him away? That none of us would ever know?"

Andromeda snatched the paper from her hand, examining it.

'_…I know you said this was going to be difficult now, but it doesn't have to be. We can at least try to tell you parents. They love you, don't they? They want you to be happy…_'

Ted's writing. She looked up at Narcissa, whose eyes were brimming with tears now. "How _could_ you? For _three years_? Andromeda, he's a Mudblood! What were you thinking?" Narcissa grabbed the letter back from Andromeda, folding it up.

"Give me the letter, Narcissa." Andromeda said calmly, mind in a million places at once. She wouldn't tell her parents. She could convince her not to. Narcissa loved her. She'd understand if she could only explain. "Please."

"No, Andromeda. No." She was crying now, standing up. "You've betrayed us. Your own _family_."

"I haven't betrayed anyone," Andromeda stood too, grabbing her sister's arm. "Let me explain myself to you. Please, Narcissa, listen to me!" The girl jerked herself out of her sister's grip, backing away from her. She was shaking her head, but didn't say anything. "It was just a crush! A fling! It wasn't supposed to get serious. Narcissa I…I…" Andromeda hesitated, biting her lip.

"What?" Narcissa scoffed. "You love him? You want to marry him?" She didn't answer, looking away from her sister. Suddenly, Narcissa was crying again, and ran to her sister, grabbing her hand. "Call it off. Write him right now and call it off. Please, Andromeda, please, do that, and I won't tell. I promise. Please."

Andromeda gazed down at her younger sister. Tears leaked from her eyes. She didn't want to tell. She didn't want whatever the consequence would be to fall on her sister. But, Narcissa had to. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't. Andromeda had betrayed her entire family. She had betrayed _her_. She had lied to her face over and over. Narcissa was hurt. Andromeda had hurt her. And she couldn't forgive her. Not unless Andromeda took back what she'd done. Falling in love with a Mudblood.

"_You_ said." Narcissa sounded like a child who had been lied to by an adult; whining and accusing. "_You_ said you wouldn't ever fall in love with a Muggle-born. You told us that, remember?" Her breath caught, and she let out a sob. "You _lied_ to us!"

Then she was out the door, running somewhere. Her pale blonde hair rippled behind her. For a moment, the idea of grabbing it and pulling Narcissa back crossed her mind, but Andromeda didn't have it in her.

She fell to her knees and waited. Waited for Narcissa to explain everything. Waited for her mother to start screaming. Waited for her father to come after her.

She waited for what she had feared for years to occur, and only felt slightly afraid when the yelling began.

* * *

-Reels


	12. Marked

Marked

* * *

Blood traitor. That's the term she kept hearing; that, and Mudblood. Blood traitor and Mudblood. They seemed to go hand in hand.

It was in a slight daze that Andromeda tripped after her mother. She didn't know where she was going. She just kept screaming at her. Hitting her. Crying. Her father had disappeared. He had come to her, as she knew he would, with the letter. He asked if it was true. She had answered, yes, it was. And then he was gone, locking himself up in his study. He'd let his wife handle this.

How could he disown his own child? But then, how could she betray her own father?

"How could you?" It was a question asked over and over that night. By her parents. Her sister. Herself.

They had, somehow, ended up in the tapestry room. It was a replica of the original; if any changes were made to it, they would automatically be mirrored on the actual one. Andromeda connected the dots immediately, and began sobbing. There was only one reason they'd end up here. The room was somewhere Andromeda would often find herself, gazing at the faces of her family, her ancestors long dead. She liked to see her own face there, aging every year on its own. Sometimes her father would come in there with her, and he'd always point out the burns on the tapestry.

"These people," Cygnus Black would say, motioning to the blackened out faces. "Were marked traitors of our family. As such, they were shunned." He would then turn to Andromeda, placing his big hands on her slight shoulders. His second daughter was always, secretly, his favorite. Andromeda wasn't cruel as Bellatrix. She wasn't selfish as Narcissa. She didn't cause Cygnus any trouble, and she was very dear to him for that. "Andromeda, you know the importance of being a Black, don't you?"

"Of course father." She'd smile. "We're the Noble and Most Ancient House!"

But, maybe she had forgotten the importance. Maybe it was no longer important to her. Maybe being part of the 'Noble and Most Ancient House' didn't matter. She was in love, after all. Shouldn't her family be able to accept that? Damn his blood status! Shouldn't they be happy for her?

Andromeda grabbed a hold of her mother's arm. "Mother, no, please, no." Druella jerked her arm free, drawing her wand. She looked down at her daughter. Druella's eyes were red, puffy. The blue of her eyes had never been so brilliant. Her eyes so like Narcissa's. "Please, mother, don't." Her daughter's pleas fell on deaf ears. She wouldn't listen to a blood traitor. One who would love such _scum_ was no daughter of hers.

Druella turned sharply, screaming a spell, wand pointed at her daughter's likeness. There was a blast of light, and then the image was smoking, flames dying, leaving a burn.

"_Mother no, mother no, mother_ _no_!" Andromeda screamed, taking a hold of Druella's arm, jerking it back as if to take back the action. The woman freed herself from her daughter's grip again, smacking her hard across the face as she did so. Druella no longer cried. She stared at the young woman, bent and sobbing, with disgust and hate clear on her face. She was no daughter of hers. No daughter of hers.

"Get out," Druella hissed, grabbing Andromeda's face so that she'd have to look at her. "Get your things and leave. You are no longer welcome here. You are no longer a Black. You are _nothing_." She roughly released her hold, Andromeda's head wiping to the side from the force.

Out of the corner of her eye, Andromeda could see Narcissa standing in the door way. Tears streamed down her face, but she was silent. As their eyes met, Andromeda raising her head to look at her sister, Narcissa took a step back, and then ran away from her. Her mother left the room, having no more words for her daughter. She was left alone with the tapestry.

She turned to it now, wiping away the tears that wouldn't stop. Her eyes fell on her mark, between Bellatrix and Narcissa. The ugly, black burn. She fingered the spot, bits of fabric pulling away as she did so. Nothing was left of her, save her name, in elegant script, written under where her picture used to be. _Andromeda_. Left so future generations could know who betrayed their family. Left for humiliation.

Andromeda crumbled.

xx

She had known his address for three years. But she'd never thought she'd find herself there, on that street, at that house.

It was late. Rain was pouring. A light was still on in the home.

She knocked twice and waited. Again. She rang the doorbell, and moments later, the door was opened.

The man standing before her was tall. Wide. Huge. He was in a bathrobe, worn from years of use. It was the eyes that let Andromeda know it was Ted's father. The same warm, grey eyes.

Ted followed not soon after his father, looking over his shoulder. He gasped.

"I didn't know where else to go." Her tears melted in with the rain.

Andromeda had been marked a blood traitor, all for this boy standing behind his father's shoulder. She wasn't sure if it was worth it or not; if he was worth it.

But a small part of her whispered, "Of course he is."

* * *

-Reels


	13. Amethyst

Amethyst

* * *

Living with Andromeda was tiring.

She'd taken it upon herself to care for Ted, his father, and his little brother. His mother had passed away after Jackson was born due to birth complications, and having a woman in the house after nine years without one was odd, awkward, and exciting. Andromeda tried taking on chores; cleaning, washing, cooking, all things she'd never done before. His father would always smile at her in this exasperated way when he'd come across her tinkering with the washing machine or dishwasher. Eventually she gave up on the Muggle way of doing things, resorting to magic. The Tonks' home had never been so clean.

Surprisingly, his father didn't question Ted much about his infamous girlfriend turning up. Ted had, in the past, attempted to explain to Mr. Tonks as to why Andromeda would never stop by to visit in the summer, but the Muggle never really wrapped his head around the whole thing. Her parents were snooty, that much he got. And it was close enough, Ted figured, chuckling when his dad would reference 'those stuck-up Blacks.'

His brother became fascinated with the witch, watching her from behind as she'd flick her wand and the dishes would began cleaning themselves or clothing would began folding on its own. Ted never showed off his magic for Jackson, and watching Andromeda, throwing spells around this way and that, he fell in love with it, his longing to receive a letter from Hogwarts only deepening.

"He'd be in Ravenclaw, no doubt." Ted said once over dinner to Andromeda, who smiled at the little boy. "Sharp as a knife, that one." He winked at his brother, who flushed with embarrassment.

Andromeda had lived with them for a month before his father sat down with Ted, holding something in his hand. He looked at his son seriously, and then said, "You're going to marry her, aren't you?"

Ted cleared his throat, clearly caught off guard. "Well, I mean, I figured eventually…" His face had turned red.

"Here." His father placed a box on the table. "If you'd like, give her that. It was your grandmother's." He watched his son pop the box open and examine the ring. It was pretty, he thought. Amethyst surrounded by a ring of diamond, with little diamonds embedded in the silver band. "I like Andromeda. She can be slightly over bearing." Ted laughed now, looking up from the ring. "But she's a nice girl. You'd be an idiot to let her go."

"Yeah." Ted smiled, looking back down at the ring. "Yeah, I know."

It was another month before Ted made an attempt. They had both began their careers, Andromeda interning at St. Mungo's while Ted was working to get his magizoologist license. They were looking into getting an apartment in London. The engagement ring was burning a hole in his pocket.

They were walking hand in hand through the streets of London, visiting different apartments that were on the market. It was late August, still warm, but crisp, as the seasons slowly began to transition. A slight breeze played with the locks of Andromeda's hair, tickling Ted's shoulder. He glanced at her, walking with her head down, staring at her feet. It was odd. She used to walk looking straight ahead, catching other's eyes as she passed, not looking away till they did. She never looked apologetic as she walked. Not until that night.

Her entire manner seemed to collapse. She wasn't as smart mouthed anymore. She wouldn't argue back with him, not even playfully. She became reserved, it seemed. Polite. Impersonal. Guarding herself against everyone, afraid of being crushed again.

"Andromeda." Ted stepped in front of her suddenly, cutting her off. She looked up, cocking her head slightly in confusion.

"What? What is it?" They were frozen on the side walk, people passing by them every now and then. Andromeda felt they were in the way and wanted to keep moving. Ted seemed lost, suddenly, plunging his hand into his coat pocket, while looking down at the ground. "Ted?"

"Andromeda, I…" He pulled the box out, examining it. She did, too, eyes widening.

"Ted, is that-?"

He was down on one knee in one fluid motion, opening the box. "Marry me, Andromeda. Let me make you happy. Please. Let me make you smile. Let me love you, more than you've ever been loved. Let me try to fill the void, and if I can't, let me at least patch it up." Ted hesitated, unsure if Andromeda covering her mouth with a gasp and suddenly crying was a good or bad thing.

"I know it's sudden. I certainly didn't plan on proposing when I woke up this morning. But, Andromeda, what do you say? Let's get married. Have kids. Let's grow old together, and die together, and get buried together, and watch everyone we love from up in Heaven, and if all that doesn't exist then let's just come back as ghosts to haunt our kids and grandkids. But Andromeda, I love you. And I want to marry you. So, how about it, Dromeda? Will you marry me?"

She was nodding, fervently, bobbing her head up and down while tears spilled from her eyes. Ted laughed out loud, standing up and wrapping his arms around the woman. They kissed, withdrew, and Ted slid the ring onto her waiting finger.

"Amethyst?" She asked, looking at the ring, while wiping the last few tears away.

"If you don't like it, I can always get another. It was my grandmother's, so if it's too old fashioned for you, that's-"

"It's perfect, Ted," Andromeda smiled up at him. "I love it."

"And I love you."

Her eyes softened and the barriers she'd established seemed to lower. Andromeda's voice was soft, almost a whisper, as she answered with a quick, "I love you too, Ted."

That was, really, all he wanted to hear that day.

* * *

-Reels


	14. Dancing

Dancing

* * *

They'd never danced before that night. There was never a time they would have. Never an opportunity for it.

She was, of course, a wonderful dancer. She'd been attending parties since she was young, events always influenced by adults even for a child's birthday. There was no pin the tail on the hippogriff. There was dancing and an orchestra. She was no stranger to ballrooms. Waltzing was something she knew how to do by nine.

He stumbled over his feet in his attempt to lead. Dancing was a foreign task, something he'd never been exposed to. When would he have? A house of three males didn't think about dancing, and it's not like Hogwarts offered a class (not that he'd even take it.) He'd never held a girl against him and swayed to music, slow or not.

Suffice it to say, Andromeda led. Not that she minded. Ted wasn't too embarrassed.

Their wedding was small; Ted's immediate family and a few friends from school days. Andromeda had sent invitations to her social circle from that time, but no one replied. News of her disownment had spread, and she was already being frozen out by the pure-blood society. She sent one to her parents without Ted's knowledge, hoping in vain they'd respond.

They didn't.

She was distracted by this, however. Ted's family was warm, kissing the bride on her cheeks, hugging her while welcoming her to the family. His friends made her laugh, any misery she might have felt that night vanishing as Gideon and Fabian Prewett told her stories of Ted's longing for her while his love was still unrequited.

"He was miserable!" Fabian laughed, clapping the groom on the back. "He'd live off every bit of attention you gave him. 'Ted, give up,' I'd say, and he'd always say something like, 'No! I caught her glancing at me in Charms! She's interested!' And then he'd run off to find you, acting as though he'd ask you out that very moment."

They all laughed now, while Ted flushed, giving the twin a playful shove.

"Blew my mind, that one day at the lake." Gideon said with a nod, setting down his fire whiskey. "He came walking back over, a smile plastered on his face, telling me you'd actually said yes. Didn't believe him, naturally."

"Ah, but now I've married her." Ted said as if to rub it in, kissing Andromeda's hand that he hadn't let go off since they were pronounced husband and wife.

"Indeed you have," Gideon laughed, shaking his head side to side. "Funny, how things work out."

A silence fell over them now, all holding little smiles.

"Well," Andromeda began after a moment, looking between the twins. "Thank you both so much for coming. It means a lot, really."

"Yes, hectic times." Fabian nodded. "It's nice to see something as happy as a wedding between it all."

"Speaking of that, Ted, I've been meaning to bring something up to you." Gideon hesitated. "If we could, at some point, maybe talk."

"Now really, Gideon." Fabian cut in, glancing between Andromeda's look of confusion while Ted's expression seemed to go flat. "This is a wedding! A celebration! Let's talk later." He stood now, offering his hand to Andromeda. "Now Ted, if I may have a dance with your lovely wife, I'd be honored."

"Of course, Fabian, if Andromeda doesn't mind." Ted smiled at his bride, who stood, taking the man's hand.

Once they were gone, the two sat in silence for a moment, Ted watching the couple, while Gideon played with his glass. The man didn't say anything more on what he had wanted to bring up, instead starting leisure conversation with his old friend. Ted played along, acting as though it was never brought up.

Fabian was right, after all. It was a wedding. A time for celebrating, laughing, drinking, and dancing.

Talk of the Order had no place in a wedding.

* * *

-Reels


	15. Soldier

Soldier

* * *

Rain was falling that day, the two men finding shelter beneath an awning that stuck out from a store front. A sign proclaimed the store closed, darkness the only thing inside. Ted glanced from the outline of televisions, the grey light from outside reflecting off their black screens, to the man next to him, rubbing his hands together. It was early November and the temperature dared the rain drops to turn to snow.

"Gideon mentioned it in September?"

"Yes, when Andromeda and I were married."

"She's doing well?" Edgar Bones veered off as a woman passed by.

"She's fine," Ted nodded, watching the back of the woman. "She'd pregnant now, you know."

"Oh, well, congratulations," Edgar smiled, his bushy moustache turning up. "However…"

"Yes. Back on topic." Ted looked across the road at a café; a warm orange glow radiated from it. People bustled around inside, ordering, eating, drinking, serving. He could really use a coffee.

"The war is young, only two years." Edgar sniffed hard, rubbing his red nose. "As is the Order. However, Voldemort has been gathering his 'Death Eaters' for some time."

Ted nodded now, mind skipping back to Bellatrix and Rodolphus, who Andromeda had told him went on to join the Dark Lord. He wondered, since they had graduated, who else had joined the ranks.

"Without a doubt, there are more following him than Dumbledore."

"And as such, you're looking to recruit." Ted looked back to the man, who nodded slowly.

"We wouldn't have ever mentioned it to you if we knew you weren't trustworthy, Ted." Edgar assured him. "And if you decline, you shouldn't face any danger. Not everyone in the Order knows who is being considered when they are. Only the Prewetts, Dumbledore, and I have discussed your name."

"I understand…" He trailed off, glancing at his hand. Out of habit, his thumb had begun rubbing his wedding ring, a simple silver band. "I would love to fight, you know. I never did get Lestrange back for all those beatings." He smiled slightly. "But…"

"Now you're married and have a kid on the way?" Edgar smiled in understanding.

"Let me think on it, yeah?" Ted suddenly felt guilty. As if he was letting his friends and the headmaster he had always looked up to down. "Talk it over with Andromeda, if that's all right. I'll get back to you."

"Of course it's all right. We were, of course, wary of her loyalties for a while but…" He hesitated. "Well, things changed."

"Yeah." Ted offered his hand out to the man, who took it, giving a firm shake. "I'll contact you then."

"Right." Edgar smiled, looking the other in the eye now. "The Order would be pleased to have you, Ted."

He nodded in response, then the two apparated away, the loud snaps drowned out by the heavy rain.

xx

"No, no, _no_." She turned away from him, almost losing control of herself. His stupid face, looking so gentle and calm, as he talked of such things, while his voice was so soothing. As if he was speaking to a child about something innocent and irrelevant. As if he wasn't talking about war, death, danger.

"Andromeda-"

"_No_!" She yelled, grabbing a pillow from their bed and throwing it in his direction.

In one way, she was terrified by the idea. Ted taking up arms against others. Others with no mercy. Others with nothing but hate for everything he was. Others that would kill him so easily, so quickly, ripping his existence out of the world. She couldn't lose him, she knew. She wouldn't be able to take it. She'd already lost one family. Yet here he was, talking about going off to join this Order of the Phoenix. Leaving his young wife, their unborn child. The whole thing made her resent Ted but made her want to cling to him. To never let him go.

In another, she felt a twinge of betrayal. The Order of the Phoenix. An organization designed to fight Voldemort and his followers. Her sister. Her brother-in-law. Her friends. They had rejected her, of course, but she hadn't done the same. She longed for her family, the people she'd grown up around. And he was talking about _fighting_ them. _Killing_ them.

"Ted, you aren't a _soldier_. You're a _husband_. A…a father." She put her hands on her stomach, not yet showing. "I can't let you go marching off to war. What would I do if you died? And…" She hesitated. "What would I do if you killed one of them?" It went without saying who she spoke of. "I'm sorry, Ted. I…I can't." Andromeda looked away from him.

"Hey, come on." Ted cleared the distance now, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Don't apologize. I just." She looked up at him now. "I just want to do _some_thing, you know?"

"You can stay with me. We can be safe. We can raise this child and not have a care in the world." She wrapped her arms around him and said this into his chest, coming out muffled. She realized how selfish she was being. She hardly cared.

Ted returned the hug, looking off with a sad little smile. Wrapping themselves away in their own world was cowardly, pathetic. But really, neither of them were particularly brave.

* * *

-Reels


	16. Raving

Raving

* * *

The larger she became, the more ranting and raving she seemed to do. Pregnancy, Andromeda realized, did nothing but make you angry, nauseas, swollen, and fat.

And really, there was only one person to blame for this.

"You did this!" She wailed, pointing an accusing finger at Ted. This was maybe the seventh time she had said this to him. He had grown immune to it, no longer guilty, instead humored. Andromeda would always say something like this after being locked in the bathroom for a half an hour, the nausea too much, or after waking up with ankles so swollen she was left bedridden. She'd always forget how she was looking forward to the baby, about the excitement of picking a name and moving to a larger house to accommodate their growing family. There'd be an hour or so of her raving, then she'd grow quiet, and begin wailing, apologizing over and over.

"I know, honey, I know." Ted gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry."

"You put this, this…" Andromeda's face twisted in disgust. "_Thing_ inside of me!"

"It's called a child. An infant. Usually a product of two people's love for another."

"I'm only nineteen!" She screamed.

"You said you wanted to get pregnant, you know." Ted reminded her. "You wanted a little child to smother with love. You remember? My eyes, your hair."

"I'm only nineteen and look at me!" Andromeda whipped around, looking at herself in the mirror. "Fatter than ever!"

"'Dromeda, you do realize that once the child is born most of that will be gone. And you can easily work off the pregnancy weight."

She began crying in frustration, glaring at Ted again. "You did this to me!"

He sighed, a slight smile daring to grace his mouth. "I know, I know."

It carried on this way for another few minutes, and then Andromeda was being held by Ted, crying and apologizing. She loved the little thing inside her, she assured him. This little baby. A product of their love. Maybe the child could have his hair. She did love the shade of his hair. And what did the weight even matter? She was going to be a mother. Who cared how much weight she gained?

"You know." Andromeda began, after the couple sat in silence for a while, laid out on their bed, Ted's arms wrapped around her middle, stroking her stomach. "I've thought of a name. At least, for a girl," It had been their agreement. If it was a boy, Ted would decide, a girl, Andromeda. Ted had already settled on Jamie.

"All right, let's hear it."

"Nymphadora." Andromeda said with a nod. "Maybe Dora for short. But that's what I want. Something original. Unheard of," She paused and then said it again, carefully, pronouncing each syllable. "Nymph-a-dor-a."

Ted hesitated in his reply. Yes, Andromeda was raving. Stark, raving mad.

* * *

-Reels


	17. Groan

Groan

* * *

The night was proving to be peaceful. Two in the morning and everyone was sound asleep, dreaming their respective dreams. Outside, in the darkness, stars twinkled above the little house, the perfect size for a family of three. The moon shined down on the rural town, where houses were few and far between. Muggles slept in ignorance, unaware of the wizard family that had moved in just a week ago, a young couple and their new born baby.

Peace. Quiet. Tranquility. Everything was right in the world as far as the Tonks were concerned. That is, until, little Nymphadora began screaming and wailing so loudly, a banshee would be impressed.

Andromeda rolled over with a groan, hitting Ted in the chest. He was a heavy sleeper, snoring slightly, and never waking up when his child cried.

"Your turn." Andromeda mumbled, hitting Ted over and over till he woke up. "I got her last night at five. Your turn."

The man blinked his eyes awake, then squeezed them tightly closed, letting out a heavy sigh. "Ok, ok." Andromeda stopped hitting him, rolling back over and immediately going back to sleep. Ted stood up, stretched, and then trudged between their room and the baby's.

The room was pink, of course, with a little white crib to the left and a changing station to the right. There was toys scattered about, usually enchanted to move around, but only when the baby was among them. In one corner, a large stuffed unicorn sat, while in the other, a small bookshelf was positioned, holding fairy tales and the like.

As Ted reached down to collect his daughter, his forehead was met by the mobile, moving as the child was now awake, enchanted as the other toys. It had a collection of a badger, a snake, a raven, and a lion, all made cute and childlike by the crafter, along with a wand and a Sorting Hat that, instead of looking annoyed as usual, had a large smile. On occasion, Ted would watch little Dora reach up and grab the badger, which he believed an omen. Andromeda would always dismiss this, pointing out that the badger was the cutest of the six items. It pleased him, none the less.

Upon being in her daddy's arms, Nymphadora had calmed down considerably. Ted crooned and sang, while the baby watched him, her hair automatically turning his shade, her eyes turning grey. It was something the little Metamorphmagus would do when being held by someone; she'd take on their hair and eye color, maybe their shade of skin if it was radically different to her own. Ted smiled down at her.

"Sleep, baby, sleep." Ted whispered the words, the tune only faint. "Your father tends the sheep. Your mother shakes the dreamland tree and from it fall sweet dreams for thee. Sleep, baby, sleep." Her eyes had closed as he sang softly to her, and he held her while he sang the next verse, rocking her gently as he did so. He laid her back down in the crib once he was sure she was asleep, and then watched her for a while.

He loved watching his little Dora sleep. Her hair would always change colors in fast succession as she dreamed about whatever it was she did. Yellow, dark brown like Andromeda's, purple, green, a pink like her walls, sandy blonde like his, stark white, dark black.

He backed out of the room slowly, taking care not to step on any of her toys. When he returned to his room, Andromeda was laying on her back, looking up at the ceiling. He lay back down next to her, and she took his hand automatically.

"Why do you always sing that song?" She asked, looking over at him.

"It was what my mom would sing to me." He continued staring up. "She'd sing it to Jackson, when he was still in her belly, kicking away." Ted smiled now. "She said it'd calm him down."

Andromeda didn't say anything, instead raising their hands and kissing his. Ted's mother was a subject that was rarely brought up. When she lived with the Tonks, she was only mentioned rarely. She never really knew what to say. Apologizing seemed useless, as she died so long ago. The family had already healed. But, she supposed, maybe she didn't have to say anything. It's not like Ted resented her for her silence.

She rolled over toward her husband, throwing an arm over his chest. They both closed their eyes and drifted off again, neither of them really getting back to sleep before Nymphadora was crying again.

Ted rolled over, placing a hand on Andromeda's cheek as her eyes opened. "Your turn." He said with a smile.

The woman groaned, as she usually did, and got up, trudging into the child's room to take her shift.

* * *

-Reels


	18. Sapphires

Sapphires

* * *

When Andromeda was a little girl, she was given a bracelet for her birthday. It was from her grandparents, and she loved it. It was a silver band, inset with sapphires. What she loved best about it was the addition yellow, pink, green, and orange sapphires, along with the usual blue. It was the most colorful thing she ever owned, and she wore it often.

Of course, she got it when she was young. It went missing weeks later.

She'd all but forgotten about it until Nymphadora was born. A little Metamorphmagus, as colorful and beautiful as that bracelet she once loved. By the time Dora was three, she'd had enough with boring colors. Andromeda would never see her daughter with black, blonde, brown, or ginger hair. The toddler preferred bright pink or a sunny yellow. Green like grass, blue like the sky, or a warm orange like the marigolds blooming in their garden. Andromeda would watch her child cycle through these colors, and one day, she remembered the bracelet.

She longed for it, thinking that in a few years, Nymphadora would be the same age she was when Andromeda got it, and she wanted in vain to be able to pass it down to her daughter.

She thought about it from time to time for a few years, watching Nymphadora grow. Eventually the girl settled on pink as her favorite color for her hair, only changing it on occasion. Though, if ever she caught her daughter testing out a shade of blue, Andromeda's mind would immediately leap to the bracelet and she'd become infuriated with her past self.

One day Andromeda found herself window shopping in the closest Muggle town after picking up some groceries. She had wondered over to the shopping district, not really planning to buy anything, just looking for the sake of looking. She passed by clothing shops, furniture stores, and eventually found herself looking in on a jewelry store; the pieces presented in the window were nothing particularly fancy. They were made of plastic, bent medal. Some had feathers on them that looked as though they could have been found on the ground.

She found herself going in, anyway.

The place smelled on incense, and she could see a stick of it burning on the counter, behind which a woman with long, straight blonde hair sat. She was wearing a loose top, and smiled when she and Andromeda's eyes met. She stood, stepping out from behind the counter. Her pants were rather tight in comparison to her shirt. She was barefoot.

"You looking for anything in particular?" She asked. She had a husky voice which vaguely reminded Andromeda of her mother's.

"Not really," Andromeda smiled back at the Muggle, hoping she wouldn't start to follow her around the store. "Just thought I'd look."

"Well take your time," The woman nodded, standing for another moment. "We have necklaces over here, earrings there. Bracelets can be found in that back corner there." She motioned between these three. Andromeda opted to go to that back corner there, looking between the bracelets.

The sapphire bracelet came back to her, and she began looking in earnest. A loud voice told her there was no way anything like that would be here. She kept looking.

There were a lot of bracelets, and Andromeda wondered if the woman made them all. Some were made of leather with beads, some were metal and had designs etched into them. Some were simply plastic, little beads strung together to make colorful chains.

One caught her eye. It looked as though to be colored crystals, but was instead plastic. There were white, green, pink, orange, purple, and blue plastic crystals strung side by side. It was cheap, flimsy, easily breakable, and oddly appealing. She put it on, looking at it around her wrist. Not for an adult, indeed, but easily worn by a child.

And, in a way, she was reminded of the bracelet. Somehow, she found, this version seemed to fit Nymphadora more. She was six by this point, loud and tomboyish, wearing her hair short, always coming home with cut knees or dirt, and hardly interested in jewelry. She wouldn't know what to do with a bracelet of sapphires.

Later that night, Andromeda slid the bracelet onto Nymphadora's wrist. She tapped it with her wand, and the string shortened, tightening around the little girl's wrist.

Dora stared at it with almost disgust, looking up at her mom. "Why'd you get me _this_?" She shook her wrist, daring the bracelet to fall off.

"Look." Andromeda took her daughters hand. "There's blue and orange, purple, pink, and green." She pointed to each of these and then looked back up at Dora. "Like you. There's a blue, orange, purple, pink, and green Dora. Right now you're pink Dora." She rubbed her daughter's hair and the little girl laughed.

Dora concentrated for a moment, then changed her hair, turning it a dark purple. "Now I'm a purple Dora!" She laughed again, hair turning blue. "Blue Dora!"

The mother and daughter giggled to themselves as she cycled through all the colors, the child eventually thanking her mother for the trinket. Andromeda planted a kiss on her daughter's head, now back to its usual pink.

"Of course, my colorful little Nymphadora."

The bracelet was lost in three weeks' time. Andromeda was thankful it wasn't made of sapphires.

* * *

-Reels


	19. Firey Orange Hair

Fiery-Orange hair

* * *

The couple sat together on their couch, sipping wine, and gazing into the fire they had burning. In the corner, a discarded eye patch and hook hand lay, tossed away earlier by their daughter, now in bed and sleeping. It was Halloween, and the Tonks were tired. They'd trekked all over their little town, accompanying Nymphadora on her eighth Halloween, this time dressed as a pirate. It was nearing twelve now and Andromeda and Ted were dozing off, she lying against him.

There weren't aware that, somewhere, a boy was made an orphan. They didn't realize the Dark Lord had fallen. They couldn't even imagine a child surviving the Killing Curse. As far as they were concerned, the Wizarding World was still holding its breath as a war waged.

"Look at this." Ted tossed the Daily Prophet in front of his wife, now enjoying her morning coffee. Nymphadora was up, out playing after having her breakfast. It was the first day of November, and they had yet to notice a change.

The front page's headline read 'The Dark Lord no more' and beneath it a picture of a family of three. A young man with glasses and a woman looked out at them, a child in her arms. He was distracted, not looking at the camera as his mother motioned toward it.

Andromeda looked up at her husband, clearly confused. He motioned again toward the paper, and she began reading.

_Last night, on All-Hallows-Eve, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named fell, after the murders of Lily and James Potter in their home. Their child, one-year-old Harry Potter, dubbed The Boy Who Lived, survived the Killing Curse by the Dark Lord, resulting in his death._

James Potter. She'd heard that name before. She stared intently at his picture, and something in the back of her mind nagged at her. James Potter. Andromeda thought back, sorting through her years at Hogwarts.

"Andy, meet James Potter." Sirius was all laughs after the Sorting Ceremony. Gryffindor! A Black was sorted into Gryffindor! The shock was still there, his fellow Gryffindors staring at him as they passed. Andromeda felt uneasy for her cousin, afraid of their family's reaction. Narcissa was just furious. But Sirius seemed to be ignoring all that at the time, instead introducing his favorite cousin to his new friend.

The boy had jet black hair and brown eyes hiding behind his glasses. He sneered slightly when Andromeda and Narcissa approached. He was James Potter, and now he was dead.

She stared at his wife now. Lily. _Lily Potter, née Evans_, the article read. Lily Evans. The nagging was still there, but not as strong. Andromeda recognized her smile in the picture.

"She was always with that one boy." Ted interrupted, watching his wife stare at the woman. "The one in Slytherin who was always getting in fights with Sirius. You remember? She had this fiery-orange hair. She'd always go to that boy after the fighting stopped." The black and white photo hid that hair, but Andromeda remembered now. Severus Snape, always sitting alone in the common room, poured over his books. She'd take note of those two, as it seemed Lily was the only friend he had. That red headed Gryffindor, walking together with Severus, making him smile and laugh.

"So, then, it's over, isn't it?" Andromeda asked after a moment, looking away from the photo. She didn't like looking at it. Those two dead, holding their orphaned son. They looked so happy.

She vaguely wondered how Sirius was doing. They hadn't talked in so long. She wanted to get in touch with him now, to make sure he was all right.

"I guess it is. The article says the Ministry will be working to round up Death Eaters." Ted sat down next to his wife, taking her hand. "What are you thinking about?"

"Sirius." Andromeda said, shrugging. "I haven't seen him in years."

"Not since he ran away from home, I don't think." Ted thought back. "Six years…" He trailed off, looking at Andromeda. "What's the matter?"

The woman was looking at the picture again, frowning deeply. "It's sad, isn't it? I'm sure everyone is celebrating the end of the war, but…" Andromeda shook her head from side to side. "Look at how young they are. They can't be a day over twenty, and they're dead. And their boy, Harry Potter." Her eyes fell on the child now, squirming in his mother's arms. "That poor boy."

"War means sacrifices, love." Ted said gently, taking her hand.

"I know that." She almost sounded angry, but she didn't let go of her husband's hand. "It doesn't mean it isn't sad."

They both stared at the article, the black and white faces of the Potters smiling back at them.

"Thank you, Ted." She said finally. Ted looked at his wife, brow knitting. "For not fighting." Andromeda said this quietly, looking down at her lap. "Not getting yourself killed."

He squeezed her hand, but stayed quiet. The two sat in silence, staring at the article.

* * *

-Reels


	20. Hundreds

Hundreds

* * *

"How many lives do you think were affected?"

"Hundreds."

So far, they'd been to two funerals. One for Edgar Bones and his family and one for the Prewett twins.

So far, she'd visited Azkaban twice. Once for Bellatrix. Once for Sirius.

So far, the war had affected the Tonks more than Andromeda liked.

Edgar Bones, his wife, and their three children were buried in the Bones family cemetery. It was sunny that day, the air crisp. Many had gathered for the funeral. Edgar's family, his sister and brother, he holding a little baby in his arms while his wife cried. His parents were there, old and frail, burying their child, their grandchildren. Both had tears leaking from their eyes. The wife's family was smaller, an only child with only her parents to watch as she was lowered in the ground. Members of the Order stood, at least those who were left, to pay respects to their fallen friend. And there were just others, like Ted and Andromeda, who came to say good bye to a friend from past days.

Gideon's and Fabian's was harder for the couple. They were buried together. This time it rained. The congregation huddled under umbrellas as raindrops bounced off the wooden caskets, watching as the twins were lowered into their watery graves. Their sister and her husband stood with their seven children. The woman cried while her three oldest clung to her, a baby in her arms while her husband held another, the toddlers holding on to either pant leg. Her parents were beside them, holding one another beneath their umbrella. Again, members of the Order attended, saying goodbye to the twins brave enough to face Voldemort. Andromeda held Nymphadora's hand with one of hers while the other held onto Ted's. The man couldn't help the tears. The woman tried to be strong for her daughter.

Azkaban was as horrible as she knew it would be. Ted had insisted upon going with her, but she advised against it. The calls of 'Blood traitor!' were enough to take as she was led to her sister's cell; she didn't want 'Mudblood!' to be added to the shouting.

Bellatrix looked horrible all ready. Her hair was wild and greasy, her face thinner. Her eyes seemed to bulge out at her sister as she laid eyes on her, and as she let out a horrible snarl, reaching through the bars to claw at Andromeda, she could see her teeth were yellow with bits of food between them.

The guards shot her back with a spell, the woman falling to the stone floor, glaring up at Andromeda. There was a tense moment as Andromeda took her sister in, trying to find her words.

"How could you do it, Bellatrix?" She asked finally. "You destroyed that couple. Their child-"

"He can rot in hell!" She screamed, jumping up again. "They all can! The Dark Lord will rise again! They will know suffering again! All of you will!" She jabbed a finger at her sister, who recoiled from her. "You will die, you _blood traitor_! You and your horrible Mudblood husband and that filthy half-blood daughter of yours!" She was laughing now. "I'll _kill_ them! _All _of them! All for the Dark Lord!"

Andromeda had already began walking away, wrapping her arms around her middle as she began crying. The guards were trying to subdue Bellatrix, who was still screaming and laughing loudly, getting the other prisoners riled up. As she passed by the next cell, a hand reached out and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her against the bars.

"You can't just walk away from it, Andromeda." The man snarled in her ear as she tried desperately to pull away. One of the guards had noticed and immediately blasted a stunning spell at the man, who fell on his back. Andromeda jumped away from the cell, staring at the man who she now recognized as Rodolphus Lestrange. He began blinking, then propped himself up, looking at the woman.

"There's no escaping it!" He yelled now, glaring at the woman. "The Dark Lord will return, then you'll pay for your betrayal! And that Mudblood will pay for ever being _born_!" His laughter mixed in with his wife's cackles.

The second visit was quieter. Sirius was on a separate floor from Bellatrix, and hardly anyone there recognized her as a disowned Black. When she was outside his cell, she stared in, her face framed by the bars. He didn't acknowledge his cousin, sitting in a corner of his cell, staring off at something behind her.

"Sirius?" She said gently, and the man's eyes flickered to her face.

"Andromeda?" Sirius looked unsure, leaning up, shock clear on his face. "Andromeda? Is that you?" He stood now, voice rising. He went to the bars, Andromeda taking a step back automatically. "Andromeda, I didn't do it! You_ know_ I didn't! I know you do! Tell them, Andromeda, _tell them_!" He was shouting at her, looking at his cousin in desperation.

"Sirius, I-"

"James was my friend! You know he was!" There were tears in his eyes as he grabbed the bars, pumping his arms back and forth as if to shake them free. "I wouldn't kill him, Andromeda! I _didn't_ kill him!"

The guards started leading her away then, as other prisoners started shouting, proclaiming their own innocence in mockery of Sirius. Her breathing had picked up as her mind raced. She didn't want to believe he did. Sirius wasn't capable of it. James was his friend. But…all the evidence pointed to her cousin. Her heart hurt as she heard him screaming her name after her, begging her to help him.

"How many lives do you think were affected?" She overheard the young Healers whispering between each other, watching their senior tend to their new patients. They were talking about the end of the war, as everyone was.

Andromeda wiped the drool away from Alice Longbottom's mouth, smiling at the woman. Did she, somewhere deep down, see the resemblance between Andromeda and the woman who did this to her? Did she want to run away from Andromeda, fearing the way her jaw was set, the deep set eyes identical to Bellatrix Lestrange's? Would she recoil from her touch if she conscious enough?

"Hundreds"

Hundreds of lives. Andromeda wished hers wasn't one of them.

* * *

-Reels


	21. Dreamily

Dreamily

* * *

Ted's family hadn't visited since the war had reached its final stages. The family was fearful of their safety, wanting the Muggles as uninvolved in the Wizarding War as possible as each side put up their last fights. When they arrived at the Tonks' house after years of being gone, Nymphadora hesitated behind her mother, unsure of her grandfather and uncle. She hadn't seen them in four years, at least not outside of photographs, and the eight-year-old wasn't sure about these men, who seemed more like fictional characters than relatives. It was a shyness that was uncommon for the little girl.

Ted lifted his daughter, taking her over to her family, reintroducing the little girl for her sake. In her modesty, her hair had gone brown, her cheeks tingeing pink in her embarrassment as her grandfather planted a kiss on her head, followed by her uncle.

After standing around unsure, orbiting her mother for comfort, the girl soon got over it, hair flashing pink before too long, pleased with how she was complimented for her ability, soon showing off for her Muggle relatives. Within the hour, as Andromeda set tea and biscuits out, Nymphadora had sat herself down between her grandpa and uncle, smiling up at them, talkative and elated. She liked these men, she decided. They fawned over her in a way her parents no longer did and didn't mind when she'd interrupt with some irrelevant story, eagerly awaiting what the child had to say.

It was later that evening, after dinner, as the girl and her mother sat outside, watching the sunset as Ted caught up with his family inside, that Nymphadora finally brought up something Andromeda had been dreading. Maybe she had mentioned Andromeda's family a few times, but only when she was much younger, when the Tonks were around more, reminding Nymphadora of the missing half of her family. Andromeda or Ted would always dismiss her family, changing the subject easily, the child not really picking up, mind flying between one thing and another easily.

However, this time was different. Nymphadora wasn't as young and naïve anymore, Andromeda supposed. She wouldn't be swayed away from the subject and besides, she had a right to know about the grandparents she'd never meet, the aunts who'd never shower her with presents and kisses.

Nymphadora turned her head, eyes squinting as she looked away from the sun to her mother. "Mom, what about your parents? Do you have siblings?"

Her mother looked at her, frowning slightly. She didn't really know where to start. She supposed, though, simply answering the girls questions would be enough, and she wouldn't go any further into it than she had to. "Yes, I have two sisters."

Nymphadora's mouth dropped open. "Really? I have aunts? What are their names?" She had turned to her mother in excitement, now full attention.

"Bellatrix and Narcissa." Andromeda said matter-of-factly. "Bella's older than me by two years, Narcissa younger by two."

"What do they look like?" Dora asked, trying to think if she'd ever seen a picture of them anywhere in the house.

"Like me, in a way." She thought for a moment. "Bella's got black hair though. Narcissa's blonde and blue-eyed. They're both very beautiful," Andromeda's mind then jumped to the Bellatrix she had seen recently. She chewed the inside of her cheek.

"Well why haven't I ever met them?" Nymphadora demanded, glaring at her mother. "They're witches like you, right?"

Andromeda nodded as she thought on the first question. She should be straight with her. Maybe she wouldn't completely get it, but then, maybe her daughter would surprise her and understand completely. Though, she wasn't sure she wanted Nymphadora to know how ugly her family was, the family her mother came from. As she thought this, Andromeda was seized with fear. What if her daughter completely rejected her once she knew? What if she related her mother to those horrible people she would have called grandma, grandpa, and auntie? She bit down on her lip.

"They…" Andromeda hesitated. "They aren't very happy with me, Nymphadora." Well that was to say the least. Nymphadora picked up on this, raising an eyebrow at her mother. "You know how your father's Muggle-born?" The girl nodded, rolling her eyes at this. _Ob_viously. "Well, I'm a pure-blood. Both of my parents were magical, as were their parents, and their parent's parents. There's not a trace of Muggle in the entire Black family tree."

"So?" Nymphadora was becoming bored, not really grasping what it all really meant. She just wanted to know why she was missing out on family members.

"So they weren't very happy when I married a Muggle-born. It kind of ruins their so-called blood purity." Andromeda explained, but Nymphadora's brow knitted at this term. "They didn't want your father's blood, which they consider dirty and lesser to their own, mixing into the family. So they…" She hesitated, trying to find the right term. "Kicked me out of the family, if you will."

Dora raised her eyebrow at this. "Well you can't just kick someone out of their family." She said simply.

Andromeda smiled at this, reaching across and taking her daughter's hand. "Well, they did as much as they could." The smile then faded away and she looked her daughter in the eye. "My love, you'll probably never meet any of them. Not your aunts, not your grandparents. They hate me for what I did, marrying your father. And as such," Andromeda stood from her seat, kneeling down in front of her daughter, placing a hand on her cheek. "They'll reject you. You're what they feared. The blood of a Black mixing with a Muggle-born's." She feared what these words would do to Dora, but knew it had to be said for her to fully understand.

However, the little girl turned her head, looking at the sunset again for a moment, then faced her mother again. "That's ok. I got you and dad and grandpa and Uncle Jack. I don't need anyone else." She smiled, and Andromeda wrapped her arms around her daughter.

xx

Later that night, Andromeda crept back out on the patio, taking her seat under the stars. Ted lay asleep in their bed, Nymphadora in hers.

Andromeda sat looking at the stars, listening to the world around her. She'd wrapped herself in a thick blanket, but the winter air still chilled her, leaving her numb and dazed. As she stared off dreamily, gazing at the night sky, she couldn't help fantasizing a little bit.

Ted and Nymphadora had been added to the tapestry, earning their own little branches, attached to her still intact portrait. Her mother's and father's faces lit up as the three came for Christmas dinner, her father wrapping his arms around Dora while Ted kissed her mother's cheeks. Bellatrix and Narcissa came in then, hugging their sister, and then presenting Dora with their Christmas gifts to her, smiling as the little girl ripped away the wrappings. They were all happy to be together again, happy that everything had turned out the way it had. No one was disowned. No one was in Azkaban. No one hated another.

Andromeda ran her hands across her face, wishing the tears would stop.

* * *

-Reels


	22. Opened

Opened

* * *

When Nymphadora left for Hogwarts, the world really opened itself up to her. Of course, she had been living in the hills with the equivalent of hermits. Kids her age were a rarity to be around.

They quickly proved to be cruel, however. Nymphadora was apparently a silly name. It was after a month of attending Hogwarts that the girl officially started going by Tonks. It seemed to fit her better, anyway. But, really, who would ever fit the name Nymphadora?

Andromeda's heart was broken when her daughter officially declared her name stupid in a letter to her, and to a lesser extent the fact that she was sorted into Hufflepuff. (Of course, she supposed, her daughter hardly had the traits required of a Slytherin. Ted was all smiles.)

At least the girl did well in school. When her second year rolled around Andromeda permitted her to try out for her House's Quidditch team due to her excellent grades. Tonks followed in her father's footsteps as a Chaser. They placed second by the end of the year.

Her third and fourth year skipped by with little excitement. She became more aware of the boys around her by the latter, using her ability to make herself more attractive almost unconsciously. The other girls looked on in envy as she got her nose to curve just right, her lips adequately full. Her hair style changed from day to day, more stylish each time. The pink stayed, though. She figured it was a trademark by then.

Her fifth year ended nicely, achieving passing grades on all of her O.W.L.s, the lowest in History of Magic with an A. By her sixth year Tonks knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life: to be an Auror. This horrified her mother and put her father ill at ease.

"You'll get yourself killed." Andromeda was almost in tears.

"Ye of little faith!" Tonks said jokingly, only getting serious when her mother looked at her with such real fear and sadness that her heart sank. "Mother, you can't keep trying to protect me." She wrapped her arms around her. "I know this is what I'm supposed to be doing with my life."

"Putting it in danger?" Andromeda put her hands on her daughter's shoulders, pushing her away to look at her. "Being an Auror is perhaps the most dangerous thing you could choose to do."

"I could always tame dragons." Again, joking. She let out a sigh when her mother didn't even so much as smile. "Look, mother, _you_ may want to hide away in your house, but I don't. I want to fight the danger, keep it away from innocent people."

"Dora, please." Ted interjected as his daughter turned to leave. "You've got to understand where we're coming from. We've tried so hard to keep it all away from our family, and now you're talking about throwing yourself right into the mix."

"What mix?" She finally snapped. "The war's over. Voldemort's gone!" Both her parents winced at the name. "And even if he does somehow come back, or another one like him shows up, I want to be there to help stop him! I'm not going to be a…a _coward_ and try and ignore all of it!" Tonks stormed out then.

Needless to say, Tonks ignored her parent's wishes and went on to take all the classes required of her. In her seventh year, she Exceeded Expectations on her five required N.E.W.T.s and started her training immediately after graduating. The three years were tough, tiresome, and amazing. Mad-Eye was perhaps the greatest man Tonks had ever met.

All the while, the Wizarding World was watching as Harry Potter returned to them, holding their breath as whispers of his adventures at Hogwarts spread. 1993 and Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban brought worry to the Tonks while fear seized everyone else.

"I've always thought him innocent." Andromeda explained once. They hadn't spoken of Sirius since a hushed and short conversation about her visit to Azkaban years ago. "The way he cried after me…but…" She hardly recognized the man in the picture, screaming and thrashing about.

"Azkaban," Ted placed a hand on his wife's. "Can break a man. You saw what it's like there. This…this isn't Sirius. This is a man whose mind has been shattered by that place." He folded up the newspaper, pushing it away.

"Do you think he'll come here?" She asked, fearful at the idea.

"No. No, I don't."

In 1995, however, the world collapsed into panic as the rumor of the Dark Lord's return spread.

"What do you think?" Ted asked once as his wife looked over an article declaring Voldemort's return as nothing but a lie.

"Dora knew the boy who died, didn't she? He was much younger than her, but she must have known him." Andromeda answered, brow knitting as she read on. "They were in the same House, after all." Ted didn't say anything, just waited for his wife's answer. "The story doesn't make sense." She finally said. "His death…someone had to cause it." Andromeda looked at her husband, fear creeping up on her.

He was back, and they both knew it.

The string of bad news continued for the world.

Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband, and a handful of others had successfully escaped Azkaban. Andromeda said nothing as the morning paper declared this, only staring at her sister's image, as unrecognizable and grotesque as Sirius'. It was only as she spooned breakfast into Frank Longbottom's mouth later that morning that she finally said something about it.

"They're out, you know." She said to the man who didn't even look at her. "They're free. She's free." The man looked off, almost appearing to be bored.

Adding to Andromeda's stress, Tonks finally told her and Ted about joining the Order of the Phoenix. The world was quite literally crashing down around Andromeda, and no one seemed game to join her in going back to extracting themselves from the Wizarding War. It was Ted's decision to become allies of the Order.

"It's not just us anymore, 'Dromeda," He held her close to him, finally calmed down and through with hitting him over and over. Ted had a belly now; it was almost like a cushion was between them as they hugged. "Dora's in this. We have to stand by our daughter."

Either way, she was displeased.

Reuniting with Sirius again was like a dream, though. His innocence was definite now, and sitting with him again, discussing anything, everything, came as a relief to Andromeda. Being with a Black tugged at her heartstrings, though. She did her best to ignore it.

Of course, the reason she'd been so afraid in the first place came all too soon. Sirius' death hit her hard and she began reconsidering everything again. She begged Nymphadora to leave the Order, but her daughter was too dedicated by then, her mind set on tearing down the evil that had reappeared.

The world may have been opened wide for her daughter, but Andromeda hated and feared what was to come.

* * *

-Reels


	23. Judgmental

"Judgmental, much?"

* * *

The couples were silent, the younger of the two occupying a love seat while the older sat across from them in chairs. The young woman held the older man's hand, giving it a squeeze every now and then as she looked steadily at her mother; he was looking away to the side, at the pattern on the carpet. The married couple was looking at their daughter, the woman's hands folded in her lap while the man crossed his arms over his belly. Both looked displeased, the woman more so. There was maybe a touch of sympathy in Ted Tonks eyes for the onslaught his only child was about to endure from her mother. He certainly wasn't going to say anything.

"Generally," Andromeda began, tight lipped, now looking at the man next to Nymphadora. "A man asks a parents permission before proposing."

Remus opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated. God, was Andromeda intimidating. Tonks interrupted, however. "Such as dad did with your father?" She cocked her head to the side, blinking.

Andromeda gave her a pointed look, but didn't reply to that. "How long have you known my daughter?"

"Oh, well." The man cleared his throat. "Um, since she joined the Order, back in '95."

"Ah." Andromeda nodded her head slowly. "Two years, then? Rushing it a little, aren't we?"

"Well, I thought…due to current, ah, events-"

"There's a war going on!" Tonks snapped at her mother, glaring.

"Which gives reason to just jump into a marriage, then?" Andromeda snapped back, leaning forward in her seat.

"It's now or never, isn't it?" Tonks stood up, unable to stay sitting.

Her mother stood also. "Don't say _any_thing like that!" Andromeda pointed at her daughter, frowning. "As if you're planning to die!"

"It's a war, _mother_!" Tonks was shouting. "No one _plans_ to die, but it happens!"

Andromeda waved her hands at her daughter, turning away, and walking towards the kitchen. She couldn't deal with this. Nymphadora married to someone like…like _him_. He'd kill her, surely. Not on purpose, of course; no, Remus was a quiet, polite man, that much she knew. He wasn't prone to violent outbursts; she doubted he could even raise his voice. It was just something he couldn't help, something he couldn't control.

She pulled out her wand and flicked it toward the dishes, which rose from the sink and began cleaning themselves. Nymphadora came walking in after her, hair a bright red now as she fixed a glare on her mother.

"What, you think I don't know what this is about?" She snapped, voice lowered.

"Really, Nymphadora, do you expect me to be _willing_ to marry you off to a werewolf?" Andromeda hissed, returning the glare. "I might as well be signing your death warrant."

"Judgmental, much?" Tonks crossed her arms over her chest. "I didn't expect this from you, mother."

She breathed in deeply, grinding her teeth. "My situation was completely different."

"Oh, really?" The young woman cocked her head to the side, putting her hand on her chin as if in thought. "A girl's parents completely against her marriage to someone they don't approve of because of stupid prejudices. Yes, doesn't sound the same at all."

"I am not _prejudice_ against Remus." She spit the word out.

"What, mother, you think because you married a Muggle-born it makes you some saint who is incapable of bias?"

Andromeda let out a loud sigh again, combing her hair back with her hands. She pushed passed her daughter back out into the living room, where Ted and Remus seemed to be talking quietly while listening in on the mother and daughter.

"Ted, please explain to your daughter." She motioned for the man to stand, waving him in Nymphadora's direction when he did.

"Dora," Ted began, looking from his wife who nodded for him to go on, to his daughter who was pursing her lips. "This just makes us very…uneasy." He really wanted Andromeda to handle this. "Honey, we just want what's best for you."

Tonks stepped toward her dad, taking his hands in hers. "Dad," She began, not a hint of annoyance or anger in her voice now. "Remus _is_ what's best for me." She said this gently and with a smile, looking over toward the man, who turned red. "I love him, dad."

Ted glanced toward Andromeda, who had her hands on her hips, giving the floor a very critical look. "Love." He said softly, and she looked up at him. He was giving her a gentle look, and she knew exactly where he stood. Her lips thinned, but she stayed quiet.

"May I see the ring, Dora?" Her father asked, turning her hand over. It was a simple silver band with a round diamond.

"It's not much, really, but…" She began, trying to explain, but Ted shook his head.

"It's lovely," He assured her. Andromeda had crept up behind him, looking over his shoulder at the ring. A small smile touched her lips, the first in the past twenty minutes.

"Beautiful, Dora." She said, hooking her arm around her husband's while both smiled at their daughter.

The woman turned a little pink at the sudden attention, giving a shrug. Remus stood, joining her in front of her parents. "I do very much love your daughter." He smiled a little, finally looking them in the eye. "And I'd love to marry her, if…if you'd let me."

"Well then." Ted rubbed his balding head. "You are a good man, Remus. As long as Dora's happy, I suppose I'm happy."

"You're sure about all this, Nymphadora?" Andromeda asked, looking at her daughter.

"One hundred percent, mum." She nodded, squeezing her fiancée's hand.

"Well then." Andromeda looked between the two. "I suppose we should begin organizing this wedding, hm?"

The happiness they all felt in that moment, the tranquility that came over them as everything settled itself, was perhaps one of the last. As Dora said, there was a war going on.

* * *

-Reels


	24. Flower Garden

Flower Garden

* * *

Ted knew they'd come at some point. Andromeda had been denying it; she didn't think Bellatrix would hold to what she had said years ago.

The couple was outside. Andromeda was tending to her flower garden, something she'd only recently begun as a stress relief. Ted was sitting with a book, reading glasses on the tip of his nose as he looked pointedly down on the words. The sun was setting, the air was warm, and the Death Eaters completely caught them by surprise.

They attacked Andromeda first, crashing down on the soil as the pain made it impossible to move. Her screams were ear splitting, and Ted only had time to call out her name before he was experiencing the same sensation, falling to their concrete patio. His head cracked on the surface, a small amount of blood oozing from his head, though he hardly picked up on this stinging; the Cruciatus curse didn't allow it. Ted ground his teeth, not allowing the screams of agony to escape his mouth.

He didn't want to give them the pleasure.

Rodolphus Lestrange had taken Andromeda for his target, his wife wanting the Mudblood that had robbed her of her sister. He was probably getting too much pleasure out of the woman writhing around on the ground, yelling and digging her hands into the soil, unearthing the flowers she'd just planted. Rodolphus couldn't help but notice how like Bellatrix she looked - the Bellatrix he married, the one he knew before her mind was shattered by his Lord and Azkaban. He stabbed his wand into her cheek, the curse temporarily brought to an end.

She was panting, sweating bullets, and opened her eyes slowly, taking in the man bent over her. Dirt was smeared on the side of her face and she could taste it in her mouth. She spit and it landed on Rodolphus' shoulder. He looked between the saliva and the woman, eyes on fire. He smiled a little as she began screaming again.

Bellatrix was enjoying taunting the man squirming about before her. "Scream!" She yelled at him, face bent so close to his her spit covered his face. She stamped down on his glasses, cracking under her foot. "Scream, you filthy Mudblood!" She jabbed her wand at him, the man finally letting out a yell as the pain intensified. She laughed, dancing around him.

Then the two stopped, their victims breathing heavily, the woman letting out a few tears. Her sister walked over to her, kneeling in the dirt next to her. She grabbed her face, roughly pulling it toward her. "Where's Harry Potter?" Bellatrix screamed.

Andromeda's face twisted into hate. "How would we know?" She snarled. This only seemed to amuse her sister.

"How would we know, how would we know?" She repeated in a high pitched voice, bobbing her head back and forth. She then stopped smiling, digging her fingernails into Andromeda's cheeks. "He was here not a week ago." Bellatrix said in a lowered voice, glaring at her sister again.

Rodolphus seemed to take this as a cue, pointing his wand again at the woman. She began screaming.

Ted had sat up from where he'd be left. "We don't know anything!" He shouted. "Please, just stop!"

The man complied, the woman's breathing coming out shallow. The Death Eaters turned to the Mudblood now, and he hastily tried to explain.

"He was only here once, not even for an hour. No one told us where he'd be going after he left. We were just a…a safe house." Ted knew the irony in what he said; they had broken through all their protective spells and charms so easily. This didn't escape Bellatrix, who began laughing.

"Yes, you're all so _safe_, aren't you?" The pain hit the man again, Rodolphus starting again on his wife. Bellatrix had sauntered over, grabbing Ted by his thinning hair and pulling his head back so he'd look at her. His eyes were struggling to stay open as he tried to look the woman in the eye. "Not for long, no. The Dark Lord will see the end to you; Mudbloods and blood-traitors." She gave a wide smile and Ted could see the mountains of madness in those dark eyes. "A new era has begun, and there's no room for the likes of you." She slammed his face down to the ground, standing and turning toward her husband.

They didn't know anything, that much she was satisfied with. The Dark Lord hadn't even sent them on this errand. No, this was for personal reasons. Bellatrix had found her satisfaction in her sister's pain, her pathetic husband's screams. She jerked her head at Rodolphus, who gave a nod. Then they were both gone with a loud _snap_.

The sun was set by then, the darkness enveloping the couple. Strange, how peaceful it became.

Ted crawled over to his wife, laying in the soil with her, crushing the newly planted flowers beneath him. The woman hadn't moved from her twisted position, staring off as tears spilled from her eyes.

Ted wrapped his arms around Andromeda's waist, pulling her against him. The couple lay in their flower garden, waiting for the remnants of the pain to leave them.

* * *

-Reels


	25. I Chose You

"I chose _you_."

* * *

He opened the front door, stopping as the chilly night air wrapped itself around him, a breeze gently tugging him, inviting him to the darkness. The danger.

"If they come, tell them I've gone. Disappeared while you slept. You've no idea where I went."

The lines on the woman's faced were drawn. "They won't believe that."

He glanced back at his wife, wrapped in the blanket. Her hair was pulled back messily, strands falling around her face, tickling at her cheeks, disrupting her vision. Beneath the blanket she wore a loose cotton nightgown. Her feet were bare.

She wasn't going with him.

That was the hardest to deal with.

"Make them." He turned away now, looking up at the stars, which gave him a bright, shining smile. "They shouldn't bother you once I'm gone."

"You say that as though it's a positive." Andromeda glanced down, feeling guilt as something deep down told her it was. No more Death Eaters at her door.

No more husband in her bed, her house, her life.

"Your safety is." Ted dropped his bag, taking steps toward his wife. "And you'll never have it as long as a Muggle-born is around."

"Then let me go with you!" Andromeda cracked, taking his hands in hers, kissing each knuckle. She wiped her tears away with his hand.

"Nymphadora needs you now, you know that." Ted placed a hand on the back of her head, pushing down on her curls while pulling her closer to him. "And I'd rather have you home, safe, then running from Death Eaters, traveling God knows where."

"I'd rather be with you." She whispered, voice muffled against his chest.

"I'm a danger." Ted pulled her away from him, large hands on her delicate shoulders. "I'm nothing but trouble for you." He smiled apologetically now. "I always have been."

"Don't say that." She wanted to wrap her arms around him. Mold into him. The stare was too intense, however. Theirs always was. Reserved, solid brown against inviting, warm grey.

"I'm sorry I ever did this to you," He petted the top of her head, smoothing out the wild locks. He then cupped her face in both hands. "When we were young, you always told me how bad of an idea it was. How dangerous. Insane. But it felt so right and-"

"I chose _you_." Andromeda had never looked older than when she said these words. Her face seemed to collapse, brow knitting, eyes welling, nostrils flaring, frown deepening. Her eyes never left his. "_You_ did nothing to me. _I_ fell in love with a Muggle-born. _Me_, a Pureblood. Andromeda Black, of the Noble and Most Ancient House. I dragged you into the madness when I let you put that ring on my finger. You? You've done nothing." She blinked, and tears spilt over. "I chose you. And I'm so sorry."

Ted Tonks took his wife in his arms for what would be the last time. He couldn't feel the hot tears that soaked into his cloak, but later, as he came to a stop in the dense forest he apparated to, he looked back up to the sky, appearing in patches due to the tree tops, and looked vaguely in the direction where he knew the Andromeda Galaxy was located. He placed a hand over his heart and drew it back when he felt the dampness. He puzzled over this for a moment, before realization dawned, and he placed his palm there again until his wife's tears eventually dried.

They shared one last kiss before Ted retrieved his bag and stepped outside. She remained in the doorway, looking after him as he walked away from the house, unlatched the small gate that had always separated them from everyone else, and turned as he closed it.

The moon's glow was bright enough that they could see each other clearly.

Andromeda stood bent, cold, with tears streaming down her face.

Ted stood tall, throwing his shoulders back.

For a moment, Andromeda could see Ted, seventeen years old, stepping out onto the Quidditch field. He puffed his chest out and gripped his broom tightly. He was anxious, excited, and raring for a tough match.

The man before her was now forty-five. She would say that the same emotions still applied. He was anxious, maybe a little excited, and ready for the fight that lay ahead of him.

The fight for his life.

The fight that he would soon lose.

Ted smiled for his wife before disapparating.

* * *

-Reels


	26. Moonlight

Moonlight

* * *

He was glad to be able to see. The moonlight was that bright.

Gornuk was to his right, still and lifeless. He got off lucky, a simple casting of _Avada Kedavra_, and the goblin was dead. He'd put up quite the fight alongside the two wizards while the young man, Dean Thomas, apparated with Griphook; Ted thought they might be able to beat the three Death Eaters they were faced with. Gornuk was the first to go down, a flash of green light spiriting the creature away.

Dirk Cresswell was to his left, bloody and breathing shallow as the life slowly trickled out of him. He didn't receive the end the goblin did, no; the werewolf had chosen the wizard as his target. He ripped through him easily while the man screamed, till he tore out his throat with his teeth. He tossed the wizard away like a ragdoll, the man's head lolling to the side. Ted looked into the eyes of the younger man until the light left it, body finally allowing soul to leave.

He hoped they were comfortable where they were. He hoped they were happy.

The werewolf had seemed ready to treat Ted to the same demise as Dirk until two of the Death Eaters restrained him. A fourth must have joined them at some point, and she smiled down at the man, blood lust in her dark eyes.

Ted had accepted by then that this was the end. He knew as soon as Dean and Griphook took their leave. He knew as the goblin that stayed behind fell. He knew when he watched the life leave Dirk, taking its time as it did.

Not that he was happy about it, no. He still wanted to live, even as Bellatrix began her torture. He wanted to return to Andromeda. He wanted to turn 115 with her, or whatever ridiculous age wizards were able to make it to. He wanted to see his little Dora again. He wanted to watch her hair turn that fiery red when his tongue slipped as he called her Nymphadora. He wanted to meet his grandchild, still growing inside of his daughter. He wanted to introduce him to his great-grandfather and his great-uncle. He wanted to _live_.

But he knew he wouldn't.

Maybe this knowledge numbed him. The Cruciatus curse seemed to lose its edge. He didn't scream for Bellatrix, not this time. Maybe he did better. But, Ted didn't cry for this woman. He cried for his love.

The man wasn't able to stop the tears as images of Andromeda swam into his mind. Fourteen-years-old, watching her walk away from him in a huff, then, hands on hips, agree to go on _one single date _with him, then watching her smile up at the stars. Fifteen, watching her look nervous and scared as he convinced her he didn't care about what her family thought. Sixteen, seventeen, spending all the time he could with the girl, talking to her, kissing her, loving her. Living with her, now a woman, when her family turned her away, when she turned away from her family for him. Proposing. Marrying. Fighting. Raising their colorful little girl. Grieving as one war was brought to an end, fearing the coming of a new one. Lying in a flower garden, shaking away the pain. Leaving her, stooped and crying, as he ran for his freedom.

He loved her, and he didn't want to leave her. _"What would I do if you died?" _She'd asked him that, years ago. Ted had promised himself he wouldn't let an answer to that question come, at least not anytime soon. He wouldn't leave her. He needed her as much as she needed him. Yet here he was, at the mercy of the Death Eaters. It was the end, an inescapable fact.

Ted's last thoughts would be occupied by Andromeda. Her eyes. Her smile. That annoyed look she pulled off so well. The way she'd appraise his messy appearance. The kisses she'd give him, always gentle at first, growing more and more forceful the longer they were. The feeling she'd fill him up with when she'd simply look his way when they were young. The love she shared with him for some thirty years.

The flash of green light, sudden and unexpected, brought an end to his thoughts. An end to his memories. An end to Ted Tonks.

Andromeda rolled over in her bed, arm outstretched to where her husband should be laying. She didn't notice the hand over hers, translucent and cold. She didn't notice the smile the man gave her, the kiss he tried to plant on her cheek. As he vanished, moving on to whatever lay ahead, Andromeda rubbed her cheek, drowsily acknowledging the chilly sensation that seemed to be there.

* * *

-Reels


	27. Lies

Lies

* * *

The two men before her had to be spouting lies.

Of course, that morning, something had been in the air. Something wasn't right. Mother and daughter exchanged glances as they both picked at their breakfast, positive the other felt the electricity in the air, the tension. Something was off. Andromeda felt it inside her, as if her heart was being clenched.

She ignored her rising concerns about her husband. Nothing had happened to Ted. It was impossible. He was in hiding, far away from her, far away from everything. Nothing could have happened.

And yet, here was Remus, taking Nymphadora's hand as he struggled to find the words; Kingsley Shacklebolt, sitting across from Andromeda, a grave look on his face.

The words seemed to flow from Shacklebolt with great care and a certain amount of easiness. He had done this before, during the First War. Explaining the death of one to their relatives was a job he could handle, and well.

The only surprise was when Andromeda stood, turning away from the man.

"You're lying." She said, voice sounding hallow. They had to be. Ted couldn't possibly…There was no way he would…

"_You're lying_!" Andromeda shouted, turning back toward them and pointing an accusing finger. She'd started crying.

Why would they say something like that? Why would they try and tell her Ted, _her_ Ted, was dead? There was no way. He was there with her, not a month ago. He was holding her and kissing her and…and leaving her…

The woman collapsed to her knees.

She should have stopped him from leaving. He was safe there with her. Letting him leave like that, to travel alone, running from this unstoppable force…Of course he'd die. The danger was there, clearly written in front of her, and yet she didn't even _try_ to stop him.

She wasn't aware of her daughter's arms wrapping around her.

Andromeda had felt relief when he left. The tiniest bit of relief, in the back of her mind. No Muggle-born, no Death Eaters. She hated herself for it. She didn't deserve to live, cowardly and pathetic, while Ted, generous and loving, died. She didn't deserve to live in a world without Ted. She didn't want to.

She was whispering it, over and over. "You're lying…you're lying…" Nymphadora cried into her mother's shoulder, begging her to stop.

"Dad's gone," She squeezed her mother closer. "Mom, he's gone, please, just stop, he's gone, he's gone, he's gone."

It was true, of course. She tried to deny it all day, but she knew. Ted was dead. Ted was never coming home. He wouldn't come walking in through their front door again. He wouldn't discard his jacket and shoes in a messy pile. He wouldn't give Andromeda a kiss on the cheek as she came in to pick up after him. He wouldn't fall asleep next to her, his snoring keeping her up until she found the rhythm in it, eventually lulling her to sleep. He wouldn't wake her up with a kiss, coxing her out of bed with a cup of coffee and the morning paper. He wouldn't be there for her when she desperately needed him. He wouldn't be there to talk to. He wouldn't hold her to him, her body bending against his growing belly. He wouldn't kiss her. He wouldn't love her.

Ted was gone. God, how she wished it wasn't true.

* * *

-Reels


	28. Gone

Gone

Note: Theodore means 'God's gift.'

* * *

"_He's gone, he's gone, he's gone._"

Casket.

Mahogany. He liked red wood. Their end tables were made of mahogany. Their bed frame was mahogany. He often described her hair the color of mahogany.

Tombstone.

_Theodore Nicholas Tonks_

_May 13 1953 - March 28 1998_

_What we are is God's gift to us_

_What we become is our gift to God_

_Loving son, brother, husband, and father_

The quote was Ted's father's idea. Andromeda liked it, either way.

Ted was a gift to her, after all.

He was buried in a cemetery close to their home. Small, many of the graves over run with weeds, only a handful kept nice by existing relatives. Carnations decorated the tombstone, placed in the vases that were positioned on either side of it. The small funeral party, only Andromeda, Nymphadora, Remus, and Ted's father and brother, each held a white carnation, throwing the flower onto the casket, now six feet under and holding a man who didn't deserve to die, not yet.

Magic settled the dirt over the coffin, and one by one they all left. Mr. Tonks and his surviving son first. Remus when the Order called. Nymphadora, swollen belly and all, sat down on the grass, not caring about grass stains or dirt. Her mother joined her, taking her daughter's hand as both women cried.

"_He's gone, he's gone, he's gone._"

Nymphadora said those words so easily at first. The acceptance seemed to have seized her quickly. But, maybe she just wanted her mother to stop accusing the men of lying. Maybe she just wanted to snuff out the hope that maybe her father was still alive, and the cold, harsh truth wasn't being told that night.

Now, she just wanted this sick prank to end. She wanted Remus to explain to her that it was just a cover up by the Order to keep her dad safe. She wanted her dad to wake her up with a kiss on her forehead one night, all soft smiles and warm eyes. He'd make hot chocolate for her while telling her all about what had happened, and how he was so sorry for the pain she'd felt.

But her father was gone.

Nymphadora dug her free hand into the freshly laid dirt that covered up her father. She made as if to start digging it all away to uncover the casket, to pull open the door, to see if he was really there. But her mother stopped her, wrapping her arms around her daughter's shoulders, pulling her against her. It was Andromeda's turn to comfort her daughter.

"Don't." She whispered, petting her daughter's hair, short and a mousy brown now. "It's all right." Her voice shook as she said this, the doubt clear in her voice.

It wasn't all right.

Andromeda wasn't sure when it would be.

"I miss him _so much_!" Nymphadora sobbed, crying into her mother's chest. She clutched the back of her mother's dress, the dirt leaving a stain.

"I know, I know." Andromeda's voice wavered as she held back the sobs.

Mother and daughter stayed that way, crying over the fresh grave for what seemed like hours. The sun had already began to set as they returned home, walking slow back to their secluded house, holding each other close. Andromeda insisted that Nymphadora shouldn't be walking so far in her condition, but the mother to be didn't want to go back to that house, not any sooner then they'd have to. There were too many memories. There was too much that would remind her.

That night, the two lay together in Andromeda's bed, facing one another, neither one of them able to sleep. Their hands were held in the middle. Andromeda was lying on Ted's side as she had been since the news of his death. The sheets didn't smell of him, she having changed and washed them since he had initially left over a month ago, but she could feel where the mattress had formed to his body. The dent seemed to engulf her.

Dora's eyes were close, breathing easy as the little child inside her kicked away. Andromeda let go of her daughter's hand, placing it instead on her belly.

"Restless." She said, smiling at her daughter when she opened her eyes.

"He knows when I'm upset." Dora said, hand sliding down to her stomach now. "I think he tries to cheer me up, letting me know that he's still here for me."

"Have you and Remus decided on a name?" Andromeda asked, tucking her hands beneath her - Ted's - pillow.

"We had." Dora was drawing circles with her finger now, making a swirling design on her stomach. "But I think I want to change it."

"What were you thinking?"

The woman stopped tracing her belly, instead looking up at her mother now. She looked so old in the darkness, the shadows harshly casting themselves across her face, exaggerating her laugh lines and crow's feet.

"Theodore is a nice name." Dora whispered, eyes welling up in tears.

"God's gift." Andromeda gave a sad little smile. "Very nice name" She wiped her daughter's tears away, pulling her close to her.

Dora's father may have been gone, but his memory certainly wasn't.

Theodore Remus 'Teddy' Lupin was born on April 7th, 1998.

He was the bundle of joy the family needed.

* * *

-Reels


	29. Bones

Bones

* * *

"Yes. Yes, that is my daughter." One who'd known Nymphadora as her usual self, heart shape face, pink haired, wouldn't have been able to tell. This woman had mousy brown hair, thick, curling to her shoulders. Her face was oval like her father's, her nose turning up like her mother's. What her daughter would look like without her special ability. What she'd look like if she'd never contorted the bones in her face. What she'd look like if she wasn't alive.

Nymphadora was dead now. She was only twenty-five. She'd been a mother for less than month.

"Don't." Andromeda wouldn't take the baby her daughter was offering her.

"Mom, I have to go." she was looking impatient, eyes flickering between her mother and her wand, lying on the coffee table. "They're waiting."

"They don't need you to go!" The older woman cried, eyes brimming with tears. "Please, don't go, Nymphadora. Don't."

The young mother shoved her child into her mother's arms, the baby only squirming a little as his mother let him go. She turned sharply, grabbing her wand, heading for the front door.

"I'll be back." Dora looked back, smiling at her mother. "Both me and Remus will." She hesitated then, turning back and giving Andromeda a kiss on the cheek, then bent to give her son one on the forehead. "It'll be all right." she assured her mother, giving a confident nod.

Andromeda said nothing, giving her daughter a hard look while tears leaked from both eyes. Her daughter caressed her face with one hand before turning again, opening the door and taking a step out. She then waited, expecting her mother to say something.

"Don't make this child an orphan, Nymphadora." she uttered, looking down at the baby as Dora looked up at her, shock on her face.

"A patronus will be sent once it's over." She said, voice hallow. Dora slammed the door closed, a loud snap announcing her departure. The sudden noise woke Teddy up, the baby immediately wailing. Andromeda couldn't hold back her own sobs, clutching the baby to her breast, rocking him gently.

The waiting was horrible. The silence. Andromeda sat holding her grandson, staring blankly ahead while she waited for some sign that it was over, that the Wizarding World was no longer tearing itself apart.

Nymphadora was right. A silver lynx came bounding in to her home, announcing the end of the war and that her presence was required at Hogwarts. The man's voice, easily recognizable as Kingsley Shacklebolt's, didn't let on to the tragedy that waited for Andromeda.

She left.

The school looked like the ruin it disguised itself as. Whole towers had been torn down, stone walls shattered like glass. Fires still burned, being extinguished one by one by a group of wizards. Survivors scoured the place, looking shell shocked and tired, searching for any remaining bodies.

Andromeda didn't recognize a face till entering the Great Hall where the bodies were being taken, laid to be identified by family members. Some of the fallen had whole families gathered around, while some lay as if discarded, alone and unknown.

She thought, maybe Nymphadora is helping look. She thought, maybe she's putting out flames with others. Maybe she's waiting for me with another family, comforting them as they mourned for their loss.

Andromeda was met by the man who'd sent her his patronus, looking older than he ever had. He frowned, arm wrapping around her shoulders as he led her somewhere.

She immediately froze knowing exactly what lay ahead. Andromeda stared, eyes following the line of bodies until they fell on two lying closely, side by side. She gasped, head swaying, as if trying to erase the image from her mind. The lump formed in her throat, motivating tears to follow. Her teeth clamped down on her lip and she looked up at Shacklebolt, eyes almost begging the man to not take her over there.

But Andromeda had to. Someone had to identify the bodies.

"Yes. Yes, that is my daughter." The bones had shifted. The woman before her could have been a stranger, her face so unfamiliar.

And then Andromeda was left to cry. She fell to her knees, body bending over the child in her arms, forehead resting on Nymphadora's hip. She bared her teeth as she tried to hold back the sobs, letting out little whines as tears rolled down her face. But then she wasn't able to stop. The screams seemed to tear out of her throat on their own, Teddy's wails joining hers as the baby was surprised and scared by the sudden noise. Andromeda threw her head back, looking up at the ceiling, tears blurring her vision. Sobs racked her, body shaking almost violently. She was vaguely aware of someone at her side then, scooping the baby from her arms, allowing her to collapse on her daughter's body, clutching her clothes to her while the screams started again.

Nymphadora was dead. Ted was dead. Andromeda was alone, and it wasn't _fair_. She'd thrown it all away for them, the Muggle-born she loved, their half-blood daughter that had yet to be born. And they were torn away from her; Ted first, now her daughter. It wasn't fair. What had Andromeda done to deserve this? Why, why, _why_ had she been left alone?

But she wasn't alone. No.

She picked herself up, wiping away the tears. Molly Weasley offered her a sad little smile, holding the baby out to her. Andromeda took him in her arms, wiping away his own tears, while giving his forehead a kiss.

She wasn't alone.

Andromeda clutched Teddy to her breast, rocking him gently as he settled down. She stayed on the ground, humming a tune. It was the lullaby Ted had sang to Nymphadora years ago.

"Sleep, baby, sleep." A whisper, shaky and tuneless. "Your father tends the sheep." Tears. "Your mother shakes the dreamland tree and from it fall sweet dreams for thee. Sleep, baby, sleep." Over and over, all she could remember. Teddy closed his eyes, calm. Andromeda was crying again, gasping out each word, finding it harder and harder to continue until she couldn't.

The woman held the only thing she had left close to her, crying over the body of her daughter.

Nothing seemed right anymore.

* * *

-Reels


	30. Empty

Empty

* * *

The house had never been so empty. It was as if the place was completely devoid of life, silent and still unless a baby cried out in the night, or a woman ghosted between rooms, singing a broken and off-key tune in a half-hearted attempt to calm her grandson. There were nights the child's cries fell on deaf ears as Andromeda preoccupied herself with thoughts of the past, too taken by what had been to acknowledge what was now.

There were days where Teddy was taken from her to be cared for by his young godfather. Andromeda hadn't decided yet if she resented Harry Potter for swooping in on her life so suddenly, robbing her of the only thing she had left in the world. Molly Weasley would try to assure Andromeda that it was for her own sake, that she needed time to mourn, and taking the baby off her hands might help her. Andromeda wasn't so sure. Teddy gave her a reason to get out of bed every morning. A reason to continue.

When Teddy was gone, Andromeda would busy herself around the house, cleaning what was already clean, rearranging furniture till it was back where it had started. She was restless, trying to keep thoughts of her husband and daughter at bay during the day, only allowing the memories and tears to come at night when she was tucked away in her bed that seemed all too big now, head hidden beneath covers, hands gripping Ted's pillow.

But then a new day would come. Andromeda would get up and keep going. She'd care for her grandson. She'd visit the Weasleys. She'd avoid thinking of those now gone, trying to focus on the people now in her life.

It was all rather difficult.

Andromeda toyed with the idea of moving into the city, buying an apartment big enough for just the two of them. The secluded house had become too lonely, held too many memories, but of course, that was also a reason to stay. The living room where Nymphadora took her first steps. The large back yard the little girl explored. Andromeda didn't want to leave it, didn't want another family to move in and replace everything Andromeda knew and was used to with things of their own. But staying was wearing the woman down.

She compromised. A small apartment was purchased in the city but the little house wasn't sold. It was nice to get away from that past life, the one where key people were missing. But to completely let it go would have been impossible. She'd go there when Teddy was with Harry and the Weasleys. She'd allow herself to remember, but only in that house. The city was her new life. She wouldn't let her mind linger on Ted or Dora, not in London. Teddy would never see his grandmother crying again.

As she adapted to her new way of living, surrounded by people that the war had brought her to meet, Andromeda could, slowly, feel the emptiness that had surrounded her filling. The hole that had been left by the man she loved and the daughter taken away from her all too soon would always remain hollow, she knew, but she found comfort in those around her.

Andromeda began to recognize that everything was going to turn out, if not for the better, than at least in a way that she'd find happiness in.

* * *

-Reels


	31. Brightness

Brightness

* * *

Narcissa went alone.

Her husband was busy dealing with the Ministry; still bargaining for their freedom, insisting that they didn't mean any harm, explaining how once you got swept up into something it was very hard to escape it. She was vaguely reminded of the First War, though she supposed this time they meant it, or at least most of it. Narcissa wanted to believe they weren't bad people, but reflecting, they weren't exactly good, either.

She excused Draco from it. She knew he had no desire to go, knew her son wanted to remain in the solitude he had since the end of the war. Draco had attended enough funerals. He'd said enough good byes. He had enough to think about, they all did; she pitied the way her boy looked so drawn, so old. He didn't need another burial.

Rodolphus, the only other who would have had any reason to be there, was imprisoned yet again, his mind deteriorating even further. She wasn't sure he understood that his wife was dead. When he was informed he just looked off and gave a shrug. The Bellatrix he had learned to love had died a long time ago. The creature she had become was more beast than woman; blood thirsty, irrational, unsympathetic, and fiercely loyal to her master.

So Narcissa attended the funeral alone. There was of course no preacher. Narcissa cut out the hole in the ground herself, a lone grave in the middle of nowhere, a place for Bellatrix to rest in the solitude. Narcissa had decided not to bury Bellatrix with the rest of the Blacks. In a way Narcissa blamed them, the now extinct family, for what had become of her sister. She wouldn't be among them. Bellatrix deserved a place to herself. She needed the freedom. Two men did come with the body, tucked away in a simple black casket, but soon left the woman to attend to the rest at her insistence. She wanted to be alone with her sister. She wanted to reflect and yearn and cry with no one there to watch.

Part of her, buried and stomped out and smothered, had hoped that maybe one other would come. But it was in vain, Narcissa knew that; everything related to her elder, living sister was in vain. Andromeda was disowned, Narcissa's young self had seen to that, and she wasn't ever coming back no matter how much Narcissa longed for her or wished to take back what had happened that night so many years ago.

And so Narcissa buried and cried for the sisters she had lost, racked with sobs as she realized they'd both been lost long ago.

xx

It was Harry's time with Teddy, and so Andromeda returned to the little house. She had decided she didn't mind the Potter boy, even if he did hesitate when handing Teddy to her, eyes darting over her features before remembering that this wasn't the woman who murdered his godfather. The resemblance seemed to scar their relationship before it had begun. Andromeda had gotten over her selfishness when it came to Teddy, and even at times looked forward to days when the boy would be out of her care. She trusted Molly Weasley's watchful eye even if she was wary of Harry; she knew in her company her grandson would be fine.

At times the young man would insist on extra time with Teddy, as if trying to over compensate for something, as if dreading the little boys company with the sister of Bellatrix Black. She'd flick her eyes to his and cock her head to the side, and perhaps something in her mannerism would remind him of Nymphadora, and maybe a feeling of trust would take him again, and he'd return the little boy to her care. Of course, the Weasley girl constantly at his side might have helped. Her whispers of reassurance hadn't escaped Andromeda. During those times, she'd resent Harry, but for all she knew, they might be able to find mutual ground with Teddy one day, so she always gave him another chance, if not for her grandson's sake, then for the memory of her daughter.

And so Andromeda wrapped herself in the solitude of the little house yet again. The wrapping at the door was unwelcome when it came, and Andromeda was tempted to remain in bed and wait for the visitor to leave, but then a hope she'd tried to rid herself of arose and she went to the door. Her sister looked both awkward and uncomfortable on the door step.

"Oh." was all Andromeda managed.

"Hello, Andromeda." A strained smile on Narcissa's part. "I was…I wanted to come see you."

"How did you find me?" She couldn't help the rudeness. She hadn't seen her sister in over a decade. A chance meeting at Diagon Alley, a baby boy in her arms and a young Nymphadora at her own side.

"Well, I…" She blushed and Andromeda understood. Her location wasn't a secret to the Death Eaters.

"Never mind." she said quickly. "Um…why don't you come in?" She stepped aside and gave a motion for her to enter. Narcissa was very stiff as she stepped in, perhaps more so as she took in her sister's home.

"How very…quaint." She immediately regretted the comment. Narcissa had hoped not to get kicked out.

"Well…thank you…" Andromeda cleared her throat. "I usually don't stay here now. I've got an apartment in London."

"Lovely." Narcissa glanced around the living room, eying photos of Andromeda's dead family. Her eyes did fall on one baby boy, though, and it reminded her. "Where's your grandson?"

"He's with Harry Potter now. Nymphadora and Remus made him godfather." She watched Narcissa closely as she said the names. The guilt was evident and it satisfied her. "Why don't you go out on the patio while I prepare some tea? It's quite lovely out there." _Did you know our sister tortured my husband and I out there? Did you know it caused him to leave? Did you know it caused him to die?_

Narcissa left her, looking over her yard. The swing hanging from the tree seemed incredibly ridiculous for a witch to have in her back yard. The flowers were nice, she supposed. Andromeda watched her for a moment before pulling a kettle out. Her hands shook as she worked; not with anger exactly, though it was there, but something else. Nervousness, maybe. She was incredibly anxious.

"Let's sit." She motioned to the two chairs and set the tea down on the table. She passed a cup to Narcissa who seemed to be grateful to have something to busy her hands with. Andromeda took a sip before turning to her. "So. What is it you want?"

Their gaze locked for a long time as Narcissa tried to pick out the right words to start. But her mind went blank and she suddenly blurted out, "I buried Bellatrix the other day."

Andromeda nodded. "Good riddance." She couldn't help it. Narcissa's look of shock inspired no guilt within her.

"Did you hate her that much?" Andromeda could have laughed.

"I never hated Bellatrix." She held Narcissa's gaze. "Oh, but she hated me. You know that, of course. Did you know that she's the one who killed Nymphadora? I hear she sought her out specifically. Wanted to hurt me as much as she could. I'm sure if she was still alive she wouldn't be able to rest easy until Teddy was dead, too. And then after that, maybe then she'd kill me. After she'd taken everything she could have from me." She glared at the cemented patio, the exact spot she cleaned Ted's blood off months ago. "Maybe…maybe now I do. But only because she made me."

They were silent for a long time, both women considering Andromeda's words. They shook Narcissa to the core.

"Have I…" Narcissa hesitated, looking away from her sister now to the wooden swing, swaying slightly in the breeze. "Have I made you hate me, too?" She asked quietly.

Andromeda's gaze was suddenly soft as she stared at her younger sister. She'd grown very beautiful, as the Black sisters were expected to. The war had left lines in her face, though, making her look much older than she actually was. Suddenly, images from that night ran through her mind. Narcissa begging her to feel something she couldn't. The flash of blonde hair as she rounded the corner to her parents. Standing shell-shocked in the door way of the tapestry room, eyes lingering on the black mark that erased her sister's image.

"You betrayed me to our parents." Andromeda said simply. "How long ago? I was seventeen. I lost my family at seventeen. I could blame you, easily I could blame you." She watched Narcissa, whose face twisted until she was suddenly on her feet, finger in Andromeda's face.

"You betrayed us!" It was almost like that night all over again. "You said-!"

"That I wouldn't ever fall in love with a Muggle-born." Andromeda took her tea, taking another sip. "Sit down, Narcissa." The woman obeyed, taking her own tea, trying to find comfort in its warmth and taste. Andromeda waited for her breathing to slow.

"Narcissa, you love Lucius, don't you?" Andromeda didn't look at Narcissa, staring off at the horizon, cradling her tea in her lap.

Narcissa stiffened, her grip suddenly firm around the fragile porcelain. "Of course I do."

Andromeda gave a little nod. "You're happy to be married to him, even though what and who he is has brought you trouble and pain?" She chose her words carefully, a slight pause between each.

The younger woman's frown deepened. "Of course I am." She said curtly.

"And years ago," now Andromeda turned to her sister, who paled as their eyes met. "If mother and father had told you that Lucius was unacceptable, that you couldn't marry him, would you have, anyway? Did you love him enough?"

Now Narcissa faltered, looking away from her sister, shoulders sagging as if in defeat. "I…" She struggled to find the right words. "I don't…"

And now Andromeda smiled, a small one, as she watched her sister's reaction. "I didn't know, either. But, I think I knew, in a way, that in time I would be willing to throw everything away for Ted. Maybe. I loved him very much." She paused, eyes looking off again, her smile slowly fading. "But, I never got to that point. I never had to make that decision. It was made for me. I didn't throw anything away, rather it was ripped from me." She turned her gaze to Narcissa again.

A heavy silence fell over the sisters as they considered one another. They were now basking in the gentle brightness of the setting sun, the orange light warming their hair and complexions, exaggerating the lines in their faces. Their tea had long since gone cold.

"But I think," Andromeda started, that same small smile touching her face again, staring off. "I wouldn't have it any other way. I broke free from that horrible, oppressive family, or rather, I was cut free." She looked again at Narcissa, her eyes gentle. "Not that I didn't miss you terribly. It was…very hard, of course, but in a way, I suppose it was the only way it would have worked out. The only way I would have been happy." The woman chuckled. "Incredibly selfish, I know, but I suppose at this point I'm allowed to be selfish. Mother and father would have never accepted Ted, and I never would have accepted anyone other than Ted." A lump formed in her throat. "I just wish you all had been able to understand. Mother and father wouldn't have, of course. They had been raised to reject the idea of marriage for love, at least with love being the top priority. Blood purity, that was all there was. I knew Bellatrix had long since bought into that, too. But you…You were such a romantic, Narcissa. I thought you might be able to understand." Her eyes were teeming with tears now, as were Narcissa's. "But, I suppose, you didn't. Or it was too hard for you to grapple with it. You love Lucius, I know you do. But I wonder, if he wasn't pure-blood, how would you feel?" Narcissa opened her mouth to object. "No. No I think you would have still loved him." Andromeda's smile broke her sister. Tears slid down her face and she quickly made to wipe them away.

"So to answer your question: No. No, I don't hate you." She let out a chuckle, wiping her own tears away. "In a way I suppose your actions led to the rest of my life. My marriage to Ted, Nymphadora…And I don't think I would trade my time with them, no matter how short, for anything."

After this, there were no words left to say between the two, at least not now. The two sat in a serene silence, both getting their emotions in check before Narcissa finally stood to leave. She took her older sister's hand and squeezed it, all the affection she could share with this woman who was practically a stranger.

As Andromeda stood in her doorway, watching Narcissa's retreating figure before there was a loud snap and she was gone, she couldn't help the small smile that touched her lips. Perhaps she and Narcissa had reconciled. Perhaps her sister would become her sister again. Perhaps, yet again, after losing a family, she would gain another. She still had Teddy. She had weaved herself into the lives of the Weasley's and one boy who lived. And now, maybe, she'd find family in the Malfoys, or at least Narcissa.

She wrung her hands, staring out in the beckoning darkness, the same one that had drawn Ted into hiding, if only for a short time. The same one that Nymphadora had marched bravely into to bring an end to the war. And, for once, Andromeda didn't look upon it with fear or hatred. This darkness that had swept her loved ones from her seemed to tug at her, but it was a temptation she refused. She still had brightness in her life, enough to chase away the black that had settled itself around her.

And so Andromeda closed the door to her tiny cottage, once so full of life, and climbed into bed, and dreamed of boys with dancing grey eyes and girls with hair like gem stones.

* * *

The end.

-Reels


End file.
